The true structure and workings of the human body are, we casually assume, everywhere the same, a universal reality. But when we look into the past, our sense of reality wavers: accounts of the body in diverse medical traditions often seem to describe mutually alien, almost unrelated worlds. How can perceptions of something as basic and intimate as the body differ so? In this book, Shigehisa Kuriyama explores this fundamental question, elucidating the fascinating contrasts between the human body described in classical Greek medicine and the body as envisaged by physicians in ancient China. Revealing how perceptions of the body and conceptions of personhood are intimately linked, his comparative inquiry invites us, indeed compels us, to reassess our own habits of feeling and perceiving.
The Expressiveness of the Body was awarded the 2001 Welch Medal by the American Association for the History of Medicine.Author: Shigehisa Kuriyama
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Zone Books
Published: 02/04/2002
Series: Zone Books
Pages: 344
Weight: 1.3lbs
Size: 8.80h x 6.00w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780942299892
Language: English
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