Medical humanities: stranger at the gate, or long-lost friend?

Full Abstract

"Medical humanities" is a phrase whose currency is wider than its agreed meaning or denotation. What sort of study is it, and what is its relation to the study of philosophy of medicine? This paper briefly reviews the origins of the current flowering of interest and activity in studies that are collectively called "medical humanities", and presents an account of its nature and central enquiries in which philosophical questions are unashamedly central. In the process this paper argues that the field of enquiry is well-conceived as being philosophical in character, and as having philosophy - albeit pursued over a larger canvas - at the core of its contributing humanities disciplines. The paper characterises humanities disciplines as having an important focus on human experience and subjectivity, of which the experiences and subjectivities at stake in health, medicine and illness form an important sub-set, the preoccupation of the medical humanities as a whole. Claims of interdisciplinarity (as distinct from multidisciplinarity) are noted, but such claims need to be recognised for the high and stern ambition that they embody, and should not be made lightly.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Evans, H M (HM);

Affiliation: Centre for Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine, Durham University, St Hild's Lane, Durham, DH1 1SZ, United Kingdom. h.m.evans(-atsign-)durham.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Medicine, health care, and philosophy (Med Health Care Philos), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Dec; vol 10 (issue 4) : pp 363-72

Dates: Created 2007/11/07; Completed 2008/06/20;

PMID: 17619168, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Humanities
Humans

Philosophy, Medical
Sociology, Medical

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.