AI Article Synopsis
- This paper explores the concept of 'pathic existence' introduced by Viktor von Weizsäcker, highlighting illness as a fundamental human experience.
- It analyzes how this framework can reveal various forms of 'ill-being' and emphasizes the significance of illness in understanding the human condition.
- The discussion connects von Weizsäcker's insights to contemporary medical philosophy and ethics, pointing out the implications for current medical practices.
Article Abstract
This paper seeks to find different ways of addressing illness as an experience essential to the understanding of being a human being. As a conceptual point of departure, we suggest the notion of 'pathic existence' as developed by the German physician and philosopher Viktor von Weizsäcker (1886-1957). Through an analysis of his conceptualisation of the pathic and of pathic categories, we demonstrate how this auxiliary typology may be of help in unveiling different modes of ill-being, or Kranksein. Furthermore, we show how illness plays a paradigmatic role in this type of existence. We discuss how von Weizsäcker's claim of illness as "a way of being human" indicates how such a view of the illness existence both differs from and touches upon other streams of thought within the philosophy of medicine and medical ethics. Finally, we highlight some of the normative implications emerging from this perspective of relevance in today's medicine.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2011-010108 | DOI Listing |
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