In the medical profession, the ism of Communitarianism is taught. There two types of Communitarianism but both views belittle the role and identity of the individual in society.
The individual or person no longer is seen as having dignity outside the community.
In an utopian world view, the individual becomes merely a cog in the wheel for the state to use for production. The two main types of this ism are briefly described here
- Philosophical communitarianism considers classical liberalism to be ontologically and epistemologically incoherent, and opposes it on those grounds. Unlike classical liberalism, which construes communities as originating from the voluntary acts of pre-community individuals, it emphasizes the role of the community in defining and shaping individuals. Communitarians believe that the value of community is not sufficiently recognized in liberal theories of justice.
- Ideological communitarianism is characterized as a radical centrist ideology that is sometimes marked by leftism on economic issues and moralism or conservatism on social issues. This usage was coined recently. When the term is capitalized, it usually refers to the Responsive Communitarian movement of Amitai Etzioni and other philosophers.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communitarianism
Obviously, the two merge in the undermining of the dignity of the person. And, in medical training, the question would impinge, for example on the use of fetal material for research or the taking of organs from a person not really dead by Catholic standards.
This type of ism makes the good of the whole more important than the good of the one. (Why do I sound like a Star Trek movie?).
The society, the state becomes more important than the individual.
Medical decisions are thus made on that premise. Do you want to be sacrificed for the good of the State? Enter in abortion and euthanasia.
This ism is being taught across the Western world in medical schools.