In the second half of the 20th century, the body has become a central theme of intellectual debates. How should we perceive the human body? Is it best understood biologically, experimentally, culturally? How do social institutions exercise power over the body and determine norms of health and behaviour? The answers arrived at by phenomenologists, social theorists and feminists have radically challenged the conventional notions of the body dating back to the 17th century Cartesian thought. This volume explores the range of contemporary thought concerning the body and aims to draw out its crucial implications for medicine. The book suggests that many of the problems often found in modern medicine - dehumanized treatment, overspecialization and neglect of the mind's healing resources - are directly traceable to medicine's outmoded concepts of the body. Alternatives are proposed by physicians and philosophers working in the medical humanities today.
