Type
Text
Type
Dissertation
Advisor
Mendieta, Eduardo | Casey, Edward S | Diedrich, Lisa | Post, Stephen | Jennings, Bruce.
Date
2014-12-01
Keywords
Aristotle, bioethics, concepts of health, Deleuze and Guattari, feminist materialism, philosophy of medicine | Philosophy
Department
Department of Philosophy.
Language
en_US
Source
This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/11401/76631
Publisher
The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.
Format
application/pdf
Abstract
Western medicine relies on a mechanistic conception of matter as passive and inert. Yet matter, and especially living matter, is actually dynamic and agential. This has transformative implications both for our quest to understand what health is and for determining what kinds of practices best promote health. I draw on a diverse set of philosophical thinkers to articulate a dynamic conception of living bodily matter that can enable us to define health more robustly and promote it more effectively. First I discuss the theoretical framework put forth by contemporary feminist accounts of materiality (" new feminist materialisms" or " material feminisms" ), which explains why we need to reconceptualize matter as dynamic, and offers some first steps toward doing so. Then, through sustained engagement with Aristotle and Deleuze and Guattari, I develop an account of the distinctly dynamic conceptions of matter at work in each of their ontologies. On the basis of these two accounts, I propose two dynamic features of living bodies that are particularly relevant to medicine: teleology and permeability. I explore what these notions mean, both separately and together, for conceptions of human health and the practices that seek to promote it. I conclude by discussing various economic, political, and ethical implications of this dynamic conception of living matter. | 369 pages
Recommended Citation
Tillman, Rachel Elaine, "The Substance of Health: Aristotle, Deleuze and Guattari on the Dynamic Materiality of the Living Body and Its Influence on Medical Concepts and Practices" (2014). Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions). 2521.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-theses-and-dissertations-collection/2521