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Thinking About the Body
Author(s) -
KASS LEON R.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
hastings center report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-146X
pISSN - 0093-0334
DOI - 10.2307/3561914
Subject(s) - humility , dead body , pride , dignity , meaning (existential) , human body , autonomy , environmental ethics , relation (database) , premise , sociology , epistemology , aesthetics , mind–body problem , psychology , social psychology , law , philosophy , political science , history , medicine , autopsy , anatomy , database , computer science , archaeology
The relation between a human being and his body is a complicated question made more problematic by new technologies. Kass ponders the "mind-body problem" in its many aspects. He discusses the body in speech and experience, examines its unitary and bipolar properties, and comments on the results of upright posture and on the body as a source of both pride and humility. He considers the nature of human dignity and the development of sociability and culture. In comparing cultures based on their treatment of the dead, he finds that "hyperrational" societies demonstrate the least respect for both living and dead bodies. He concludes that modern scientific man is losing his respect for the meaning of life by his insistence on achieving autonomy through biomedical technologies.