Medicine, Rationality and Experience: An Anthropological Perspective (Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures) [Paperback]

Byron J. Good (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 052142576X | ISBN-13: 978-0521425766 | Publication Date: January 28, 1994

Medicine supposedly offers a scientific account of the human body and of illness, and it follows that scientific medicine treats all forms of folk medicine as little more than superstitious practices. Professor Good argues that this impoverished perspective neglects many facets of Western medical practice and obscures its kinship with healing in other traditions. Drawing on his own anthropological research in America and the Middle East, his analysis of illness and medicine explores the role of cultural factors in the experience of illness and the practice of medicine.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book reflects more than two decades of Good's work as a researcher, writer, and teacher....offers an excellent overview of some of the controversies in medical anthropology today and provides ample ammunition for those who would demonstrate the field's relevance to the practice of medicine. Medicine, Rationality, and Experience is essential reading for anyone interested in the common ground between the medical and social sciences. The determined reader will be rewarded with a wealth of insight relevant to clinical practice, research, and teaching." New England Journal of Medicine

"The book critically explores the history of anthropology's relation to biomedicine and various phases in the emergence of medical anthropology as a discipline....This is an accessible work based on public lectures and makes no assumptions about prior knowledge, but includes the usual scholarly paraphernalia....I recommend it for those curious about the intellectual landscape surrounding the awesome ramparts of biomedicine." Gene Feder, The Lancet

"Medical anthropologists and anthropologists in other subdisciplines will find Medicine, Rationality, and Experience satisfying because of Good's historical treatment of theoretical developments in the field and his imaginative reconfiguring of a phenomenology of medical practices. This book will also be of interest to physicians and other health care providers, social scientists, philosophers, and medical humanists concerned and curious about the social construction of illness, suffering, and medical knowledge....His arguments and his illustrations are compelling and thought-provoking. As in the past, Professor Good reminds us once again of the transformative power of the individual and the social imaginations in the context of illness and disease." Patricia A. Marshall, Academic Medicine

Book Description

Arguing that medical science's denial of folk medicine neglects many facets of Western practice, this analysis draws on personal anthropological research in America and the Middle East to explore the role of cultural factors within the experience of illness and medical practice.

Product Details

• Paperback: 262 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (January 28, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 052142576X
• ISBN-13: 978-0521425766
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #443,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthwhile tour de force, April 18, 2000

By 

Vincent M. Silenzio "progressive.doc" (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Medicine, Rationality and Experience: An Anthropological Perspective (Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures) (Paperback)

Simply put, the interdisciplinary group of anthropologists, physicians, and others at Harvard have been doing some of the most important and far-reaching work in the area of medical anthropology ever. Byron Good's book, initially given as the Henry Louis Morgan Lectures at Rochester, is a beautifully written and accessible summation of much of the innovative thinking going on with his colleagues and former students --- most notably folks like MaryJo Delvecchio Good, Art Kleinman, Lawrence Cohen, Pete Guarnaccia, Carol Mattingly, and others. The major controversies facing anthropology and medicine have been legion, and the discipline has, indeed, been put to ethically-suspect use in service to imperialist ends before. However, as Good argues so effectively, there is still much use for medical anthropology to serve progressive ends in a democratically-ordered world.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthwhile tour de force, April 18, 2000

By 

Vincent M. Silenzio "progressive.doc" (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Medicine, Rationality and Experience: An Anthropological Perspective (Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures) (Paperback)

Simply put, the interdisciplinary group of anthropologists, physicians, and others at Harvard have been doing some of the most important and far-reaching work in the area of medical anthropology ever. Byron Good's book, initially given as the 1990 Lewis Henry Morgan Lectures at Rochester, is a beautifully written and accessible summation of much of the innovative thinking going on with his colleagues and former students --- most notably folks like MaryJo Delvecchio Good, Art Kleinman, Lawrence Cohen, Pete Guarnaccia, Carol Mattingly, and others. The major controversies facing anthropology and medicine have been legion, and the discipline has, indeed, been put to ethically-suspect use in service to imperialist ends before. However, as Good argues so effectively, there is still much use for medical anthropology to serve progressive ends in a democratically-ordered world.