Cosmetic Surgery - New Form of Modern Art or Pure Science - Essay Example

The essay "Cosmetic Surgery - New Form of Modern Art or Pure Science" analyzes the phenomenon of cosmetic surgery. The issue of cosmetic surgery is probably the most debated within the domain of modern medicine. Within the recent decade it was highly debated not only in the US medical and ethical journals but also on TV and in popular newspapers. One of the most popular theses for such debates is following: is cosmetic surgery an art (as it does not require medical indications for the treatment) or a science (as it is based on profound medical techniques)?

Simple “googling” the Internet gives clear evidence that most surgeons working in this area as well as respective clinics advertise their business as the “art of plastic / cosmetic surgery” instead of propagating it as a purely scientific and sophisticated activity. Conventionally comparing their business with Pygmalion’s statuary – the mythological Greek sculptor who created his ideal Galatea out of a marble stone – surgeons underline that the ultimate goal of cosmetic surgery is to make people more fit common aesthetic standards and appeal more both to themselves and the others.

Not surprisingly, as Blum mentions many of cosmetic surgeons call themselves artists and sculptors. In many aspects comparisons between cosmetic surgery and art are based on the reasonable ground. Dislike the general surgery, cosmetic one does not have the standardized procedures. Contrasting to surgery where the doctor is the one and only who knows the way to successful treatment.