Writings on Medicine

116 Pages·2012·1.005 MB·English

by  Georges Canguilhem

Writings on Medicine
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Writings on Medicine
Georges Canguilhem
Translated, with an Introduction, by
Stefanos Geroulanos and Todd Meyers
fordham university press
new york 2012
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Copyright(cid:2)2012byFordhamUniversityPress
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,
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FordhamUniversityPressalsopublishesitsbooksinavarietyof
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availableinelectronicbooks.
WritingsonMedicinewasfirstpublishedinFrenchasE´critssurla
me´decine:(cid:2)PUF,1989,forthechapter‘‘Lesmaladies’’
(‘‘Diseases’’);(cid:2)Sables,1990,for‘‘Lasante´,conceptvulgaireet
philosophique’’(‘‘Health:PopularConceptandPhilosophical
Question’’);and(cid:2)E´ditionsduSeuil,2002,fortheremainingtexts
andtheassemblyofthevolume.
Thefirstquotationonthebackcoverofthisbookisreprintedfrom
‘‘WhatIsHealth?TheAbilitytoAdapt,’’TheLancet,vol.373,no.
9666(2009):781,copyright2009,withpermissionfromElsevier.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Canguilhem,Georges,1904-1995.
[Ecritssurlame´decine.English]
Writingsonmedicine/GeorgesCanguilhem;translatedand
withanintroductionbyStefanosGeroulanosandTodd
Meyers.—1sted.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindex.
ISBN978-0-8232-3431-8(cloth:alk.paper)
ISBN978-0-8232-3432-5(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Medicine—Philosophy. 2.Medicine—History. I.Title.
R723.C36513 2012
610—dc23
2012009732
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
14 13 12 5 4 3 2 1
Firstedition
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contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction:GeorgesCanguilhem’sCritiqueofMedical
Reason 1
byStefanosGeroulanosandToddMeyers
1. TheIdeaofNatureinMedicalTheoryandPractice 25
2. Diseases 34
3. Health:PopularConceptandPhilosophicalQuestion 43
4. IsaPedagogyofHealingPossible? 53
5. TheProblemofRegulationintheOrganismandinSociety 67
Notes 79
Index 101
vii
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acknowledgments
WewouldliketoacknowledgetheundertakingassumedbyArmandZalos-
zyc in organizing the original volume by E´ditions du Seuil. Thanks go to
Warren Breckman, Michael Carhart, and Allan Megill for their editorial
interventions to an earlier draft of the introduction and to Helen Tartar
and Bud Bynack at Fordham University Press for their editorial work and
support throughout. Henning Schmidgen’s German-language translation
of three of the essays, Gesundheit—eine Frage der Philosophie, was a great
resource.ClaudioLomnitz,theneditorofPublicCulture,wasgenerouswith
bothhisenthusiasm andhiseditorialguidance onanearlierpublishedver-
sion of Canguilhem’s ‘‘Health,’’ for which we are grateful. Franc¸ois Dela-
porte graciously offered technical (and practical) advice. Lastly, we would
like to acknowledge the librariansat the Archives de Georges Canguilhem
at the Centre d’Archives de Philosophie, d’Histoire et d’E´dition des Sci-
ences (CAPHES)of theE´cole Normale Supe´rieure,the Max Planck Insti-
tute for the History of Science, and the Wayne State University Purdy
KresgeLibraryfortheirassistance.
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