Peter Sowerby Foundation endows Chair of Philosophy and Medicine

King's College London has received a major endowment from the Peter Sowerby Foundation to establish the first Chair in Philosophy and Medicine with the purpose of building on the University's groundbreaking work on the relationship between philosophy and medicine. Professor MM McCabe at King's said: 'We are delighted that the Peter Sowerby Foundation has made this extraordinary philanthropic donation. 'Medical professionals encounter daily the subjective experience of their patients and reflect deeply on it; yet their training tends only to focus on the causes and treatments of illness. Philosophers, on the other hand, are normally more concerned with abstract than practical issues. But both philosophers and medical professional are concerned with some of the same profound issues: life, health, death, identity, the nature of value. So there is a great deal to be gained from ensuring that these two disciplines engage with each other.' The Peter Sowerby Chair in Philosophy and Medicine will develop a programme of teaching and research to go beyond the traditional boundaries of medical discipline and practice in an attempt to understand the wider cultural and philosophical questions relating to health. Dr Sowerby, a King's alumnus [Medicine, 1950] said: 'As a GP I have long been fascinated by the potential for philosophy to inform medical practice.