The publishers of Lapham's Quarterlywere kind enough to send me a review copy (gratis) of the Fall 2009 issue, which is on the theme of medicine. Founded by Lewis Lapham, editor emeritus of Harper's Magazine, the magazine's editorial board features a who's who of fascinating scholars and writers, including but not limited to Noga Arikha, Anthony Grafton, Theodore Rabb, and Simon Winchester.
Clocking in at a robust 221 pages, the full issue has taken me some time to read and digest, but it is truly a treasure trove for the medical humanist. In the first place, the editors of the issue plainly understand the importance of the term ad fontes in thinking about the medical humanities. The phrase, a credo of the historical humanists, emphasizes the need to return to the original sources in the attempt to bring classical learning to bear on the cultivation of virtue in contemporary times.
Whether we need to return to the classics or not -- though doing so strikes me as generally advisable -- the idea of, for example, returning to the roots of the humanities seems to me to be critically important. As I have noted here before, understanding of the nature of the humanities themselves seems to be critically lacking, even among professionals in the humanities. What are the humanities? Why are they important in thinking about health and illness in society? Often, answers to these questions seem to me to invoke in the barest of terms the humanities' historical development, or are phrased in terms of the properties of the humanities rather than a thick description of their (non-essentialist) nature. That is, the humanities are defined by the disciplines typically grouped under the designation, which is both question-begging and nondescript.
In contrast, I firmly believe that grounding the humanities in an historically informed understanding of the educational program known as the studia humanitatis is most helpful in explaining the interdisciplinary approach of the medical humanities and in justifying said approach. Hence, "ad fontes" is more than just an interesting curio. It is, in my view, a call to return to the humanists, who saw themselves as mediating the wisdom and excellence (arete) of antiquity.
The editors of the theme issue seem to share the view on the importance of the primary sources, as the bulk of the 221 pages are selections from authors and scholars from antiquity to the modern age on medicine and illness in society. No dry discussions of policy and utilization here; instead, we have "contributions" from the likes of Hippocrates, Vesalius, Donne, Avicenna, Seneca, Galen, Maimonides, Moliere, Freud, C.S. Lewis, Kay Redfield Jamison, Sontag, and many others.
The contributions are divided into three thematic sections: "Symptoms & Diagnoses," "Doctors & Patients," and "Remedies & Treatments." Following these sections are four essays written by Noga Arikha, Jonathan Lyons, Meehan Crist, John Crowley, and Richard Selzer & Peter Josyph. The essays are all marvelous and thought-provoking, and it should not be forgotten who the creator of the essay form is, nor its etymology.
For those attracted to visual media in the medical humanities, the theme issue is packed dozens of full-color illustrations, photographs, portraits, etc.
In short, this issue shows remarkable fidelity to what I think ought to be a central ethos of the medical humanities; my very highest recommendation.
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