MINDING ILLNESS

Toward A Philosophy of Health

Authors

  • Raheema Thasneem PhD Research Scholar, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli.
  • Vinod Balakrishnan Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli.

Keywords:

Phenomenology of illness, Wellness, Healing, Embodiment, Mind, Father Philipose Mar Chrysostom, Clinical and non-clinical approach towards illness, Edmund Pellegrino

Abstract

This paper revisits the phenomenology of illness by analyzing competing philosophies of health that are deeply rooted in human experience. The non-clinical approach of the paper de-essentializes the experience of illness to construct a positive philosophy of life. It juxtaposes two opposing perspectives on illness: one, Edmund Pellegrino’s, in which the body is the centre of all experiences, and the other is the alternative philosophical position of Philipose Mar Chrysostom, which moves beyond mere wellness of the human body to propose an alternative bioethical position which emphasizes the role of the mind in the act of healing.

Author Biographies

Raheema Thasneem, PhD Research Scholar, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli.

Raheema Thasneem O, a Research Scholar in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, works on Health Humanities with a special focus on the philosophy of illness.

Vinod Balakrishnan, Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli.

Vinod Balakrishnan is a professor in the same Department, teaching Creative Writing and Communication. A motivational speaker, practicing poet and yoga enthusiast, he reads on Life Writing, Nation, Indian Writing in English and Cultural Representation.

 

References

Asmundson, Gordon J. G, Johan W. S Vlaeyern, et al. Understanding and Treating Fear of Pain. Oxford University Press, 2004.

Bourke, Joanna. Fear: A Cultural History. Virago,2005.

Carel, Havi. “Illness, Phenomenology and Philosophical Method.” in Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, Springer, 2013: 33-46.

Carel, Havi. Phenomenology of Illness. Oxford University Press, 2016.

Carman, Taylor. “The Body in Husserl and Merleau-Ponty.” Philosophical Topics, 27.2 (1999): 205-226.

Chrysostom, Philipose Mar. Cancer Enna Anugraham. DC Books, 2017.

Furer, Patricia, John R. Walker, et al. Treating Health Anxiety and Fear of Death: A Practitioner’s Guide. Springer, 2007.

Hobbes, T. Leviathan. Ed. R. Tuck. Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Kant, Immanuel. Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens. Trans. Ian Johnston. Arlington: Richer Resources Publications, 2008.

Kearney, Richard. “The Wager of Carnal Hermeneutics.” in Carnal Hermeneutics. Ed. Kearney and Treanor. Fordham University Press, New York, 2015.

Kirk, Robert. Mind and Body. Acumen Publishing, 2003.

Koeck, Christian. “Imbalance of Power Between Patients and Doctors.” British Medical Journal, vol. 349, JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26519119.

Liu, Wei, Elizabeth Manias, et al. “Medication Communication During Ward Rounds on Medical Wards: Power Relations and Spatial Practices.” Health, 17. 2 (2013): 113-134.

Macann, Christopher. Four Phenomenological Philosophers. Routledge, 1993.

Marshall, J. George. A Guide to Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception. Marquette University Press, 2008.

Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Phenomenology of Perception. Trans. Oliver Davis. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2004.

Pellegrino, E. D. “Being Ill and Being Healed: Some Reflections on the Grounding of Medical Morality.” Bulletin of the New York Academy Medicine, vol. 57(1): 70-79.

Reizler, Kurt. “The Social Psychology of Fear’. The American Journal of Sociology, 49.6: 489-498.

Rutledge, Thom. Embracing Fear. Harper Collins e-books, 2007.

Scott, Robert A, Linda Aiken, et al. “Organizational Aspects o0f Caring.” The Milbank Quarterly, 73. 1: 77-95.

Siegel, Marc. “Can We Cure Fear?” Scientific American Mind, 116. 4: 44-49.

Toombs, S. Kay. The Meaning of Illness: A Phenomenological Account of the Different Perspectives of Physician and Patient. Springer Netherlands, 1992.

Westermayr, Arthur J. “The Psychology of Fear.” The Open Court, Vol Vol. 1915.4: 250-255.

Downloads

Published

2022-03-31

How to Cite

Thasneem, R., & Balakrishnan, V. . (2022). MINDING ILLNESS: Toward A Philosophy of Health. Journal of Dharma, 47(1), 91–108. Retrieved from https://dvkjournals.in/index.php/jd/article/view/3736

Issue

Vol. 47 No. 1 (2022): Journal of Dharma

Section

Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)