Abstract
In this paper I propose that illness is philosophically revealing and can be used to explore human experience. I suggest that illness is a limit case of embodied experience. By pushing embodied experience to its limit, illness sheds light on normal experience, revealing its ordinary and therefore overlooked structure. Illness produces a distancing effect, which allows us to observe normal human behaviour and cognition via their pathological counterpart. I suggest that these characteristics warrant illness a philosophical role that has not been articulated. Illness can be used as a philosophical tool for the study of normally tacit aspects of human existence. I argue that illness itself can be integral to philosophical method, insofar as it facilitates a distancing from everyday practices. This method relies on pathological or limit cases to illuminate normally overlooked aspects of human perception and action. I offer Merleau-Ponty’s analysis of the case of Schneider as an example of this method.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 345-57 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics |
Volume | 34 |
Issue number | 4 |
Early online date | 9 Jul 2013 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Research Groups and Themes
- Centre for Humanities Health and Science
Keywords
- phenomenology; illness; embodiment; pathology; philosophical method; Merleau-Ponty; Schneider; distancing; limit case.