Phenomenology of Illness

by Havi Carel

The experience of illness is a universal and substantial part of human existence. Like death, illness raises important philosophical issues. But unlike death, illness, and in particular the experience of being ill, has received little philosophical attention. This may be because illness is often understood as a physiological process that falls within the domain of medical science, and is thus outside the purview of philosophy. In Phenomenology of Illness Havi Carel argues that the experience of illness has been wrongly neglected by philosophers and proposes to fill the lacuna. Phenomenology of Illness provides a distinctively philosophical account of illness. Using phenomenology, the philosophical method for first-person investigation, Carel explores how illness modifies the ill person's body, values, and world. The aim of Phenomenology of Illness is to contribute to the understanding of illness through the use of philosophy and to demonstrate the importance of illness
for philosophy. Contra the philosophical tendency to resist thinking about illness, Carel proposes that illness is a philosophical tool. Through its pathologising effect, illness distances the ill person from taken for granted routines and habits and reveals aspects of human existence that normally go unnoticed. Phenomenology of Illness develops a phenomenological framework for illness and a systematic understanding of illness as a philosophical tool.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Theory, Disability

248 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2016

Reviews

[Wouter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like every chapter boiled down to "illness changes the way we view and experience the world" which, though certainly true, didn't really seem like an epiphanic insight. This might be a great introduction to the idea of illness if you've never ever thought about it before, but since that wasn't the case for me this was disappointing.

[Boudewijn · Rating 4 out of 5]

"People can move away from painful things, at least to a certain extent. In some respects, you can separate from a person if you no longer get along with them; you can move away from a place where things you don't like happen; you can throw away a pen that doesn't work, but you can’t throw away your head with a headache in it. There’s something so frighteningly personal about illness. It's something that happens to you, it's in your body, and you can't run, and you can't hide. And I think that immediacy, and the way it takes over everything in your life is really important for our attempts to think about our existence in the broadest terms."

[Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carel desdobra as implicações do adoecimento corporal para o estar-no-mundo, uma vez que uma nova noção corporal rompe com a normalidade na qual o corpo é utilizado como um utensílio que some no uso. Assim, o adoecimento funciona como uma epoché ou a angústia, uma quebra involuntária da absorção cotidiana.

[Kas Molenaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een bijzonder en indrukwekkend boek. Carel drukt de last, waarde en filosofische relevantie van (haar) ziekte uit - voor zichzelf, zieken en de filosofie. Van grote waarde voor de hedendaagse fenomenologie.

[Stu Napier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read for anyone with a chronic illness, or anyone likely to come into contact with a person with chronic illness - in short, a must-read for everyone.

Carel's work is captivating, expounding the philosophical experience of the body in pain. Linking the works of philosophers such as Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty with the collective experiences of the sick, and the author's own experience of chronic illness, this book is capable of helping us to truly see the world anew. Despite frequent repetition of earlier points with little variance, Phenomenology of Illness is still a worthy read.

[Amir Vahidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s very useful and encouraging.