Body Matters
A Phenomenology of Sickness, Disease, and Illness
Published on 16. April 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
206 pages
978-0-7391-2699-8 (ISBN)
Description
Following the core principle of phenomenology as a return "to the things themselves," Body Matters attends to the phenomena of bodily afflictions and examines them from three different standpoints: from society in general that interprets them as "sicknesses," from the medical professions that interpret them as "diseases," and from the patients themselves who interpret them as "illnesses." By drawing on a crucial distinction in German phenomenology between two senses of the body-the quantifiable, material body (Koerper) and the lived-body(Leib)-the authors explore the ways in which sickness, disease, and illness are socially and historically experienced and constructed.
To make their case, they draw on examples from a multiplicity of disciplines and cultures as well as a number of cases from Euro-American history. The intent is to unsettle taken-for-granted assumptions that readers may have about body troubles. These are assumptions widely held as well by medical and allied health professionals, in addition to many sociologists and philosophers of health and illness. To this end, Body Matters does not simply deconstruct prejudices of mainstream biomedicine; it also constructively envisions more humane and artful forms of therapy.
To make their case, they draw on examples from a multiplicity of disciplines and cultures as well as a number of cases from Euro-American history. The intent is to unsettle taken-for-granted assumptions that readers may have about body troubles. These are assumptions widely held as well by medical and allied health professionals, in addition to many sociologists and philosophers of health and illness. To this end, Body Matters does not simply deconstruct prejudices of mainstream biomedicine; it also constructively envisions more humane and artful forms of therapy.
Reviews / Votes
Body Matters is a unique and fascinating account of human afflictions in a world dominated by biomedical notions of disease and illness. In a truly interdisciplinary collaboration between philosophy and sociology, James and Kevin Aho use the insights of phenomenology to help us see ourselves and our afflictions in a more thoughtful way. -- Gesine Hearn, Idaho State University James and Kevin Aho have written an important book. * Metapsychology Online * The Ahos accomplish a remarkable feat. Their writing is lively and engaging while their observations are deep and important. This is the most insightful study of today's experience of health matters I have yet seen. -- Charles Guignon, University of South Florida The book is a great contribution to the critical literature on health and illnesses. It is unique in its attempt to apply Husserl and Heidegger to health and illness....It is elegantly written and filled with numerous examples illustrating the argumentation. * Springer Science and Business Media * This book should be especially welcomed by those working within medical humanities, though not so much by philosophers and others interested in phenomenology...It brings together, even if in a much simplified way, a set of intuitions originating mainly in Edmund Husserl's phenomenology, neatly synthesizes and applies them to modern biomedicine with a critical intent. The outcome is comprehensive as far as the phenomenologically inspired divergent conceptualizations of pathological states of mind and body are concerned, and it is also often thought-provoking, well written and accessible to newcomers to the field. * The European Legacy - Toward New Paradigms *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
343 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7391-2699-8 (9780739126998)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2008
1st Edition
Lexington Books
€59.09
Available for download
E-Book
06/2008
1st Edition
Lexington Books
€47.49
Available for download
Persons
James Aho is professor of sociology at Idaho State University. Kevin Aho is assistant professor of philosophy at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Content
Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 1. Foundations Chapter 3 2. The Lived-Body Chapter 4 3. The Accelerated Body and Its Pathologies Chapter 5 4. The Sicknesses of Society Chapter 6 5. The Diseases of Medicine Chapter 7 6. The Agonies of Illness Chapter 8 7. Medicine and Phenomenology Chapter 9 8. Recovering Therapy Chapter 10 9. Conclusion