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Foucault and modern medicine
Author(s) -
Peerson Anita
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
nursing inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.66
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1440-1800
pISSN - 1320-7881
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1800.1995.tb00073.x
Subject(s) - modernity , enlightenment , modern medicine , michel foucault , power (physics) , interpretation (philosophy) , ideal (ethics) , sociology , gaze , epistemology , medicine , psychology , philosophy , psychoanalysis , law , political science , traditional medicine , linguistics , physics , quantum mechanics , politics
Foucault and modern medicine Modernity as a concept or ideal, resulting from the age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution gave hope of a better future and new possibilities. To be modern means an ‘enlightened’ individual and society, welcoming change and development. In this paper, I will discuss Foucault's analysis (1973) of problematics in medicine in eighteenth century France. Three themes prominent in the text are: ‘the birth of the clinic’, ‘the clinical gaze’ and the power‐knowledge relationship. Three problematics identified in modern medicine by Foucault and which are particularly relevant to twentieth century medicine are: (i) the extension of the clinical gaze from the individual body to the wider population; (ii) the increasing medical intervention and use of technology in fundamental life processes; and (iii) the relationship between society and medicine. I will argue that Foucault's analysis is fraught with ambiguities. It is useful, however, for establishing an explanation for medicine today and for presenting a particular interpretation of modernity.