'The demented other': Identity and difference in dementia

Nursing Philosophy 10 (1):26-33 (2009)
Abstract This paper explores the impact of the concepts of identity and difference on demented persons (especially on persons with Alzheimer's disease). The diagnosis of dementia is often synonymous with the assertion that demented individuals are no longer capable of making reasonable decisions. But rationality is an important aspect of characterizing a person's identity. Hence, this prevailing image of dementia as a loss of self and a change of identity leads to the situation that demented persons represent difference and otherness. Here, the brain and the mind act as the source for difference. The paper discusses several identity concepts with regard to demented persons and the relationship between identity and difference in dementia. This analysis is accompanied by an examination of the current biopolitics of dementia and ageing as biopolitics constitutes the socio-political-medical understanding of dementia. Challenges and possibilities for dementia care will be explored in the context of this complex relationship between theoretical concepts and political, medical, and health-care practices.
Keywords No keywords specified (fix it)
Categories
Options
 Save to my reading list
Follow the author(s)
My bibliography
Export citation
Find it on Scholar
Edit this record
Mark as duplicate
Revision history Request removal from index
 
Download options
PhilPapers Archive


Upload a copy of this paper     Check publisher's policy on self-archival     Papers currently archived: 5,705
External links
  • Through your library Configure

    Similar books and articles
    Eric Matthews (2006). Dementia and the Identity of the Person. In Julian C. Hughes, Stephen J. Louw & Steven R. Sabat (eds.), Dementia: Mind, Meaning, and the Person. Oxford University Press.
    Jennifer Radden & Joan M. Fordyce (2006). Into the Darkness: Losing Identity with Dementia. In Julian C. Hughes, Stephen J. Louw & Steven R. Sabat (eds.), Dementia: Mind, Meaning, and the Person. Oxford University Press.
    John McMillan (2006). Identity, Self, and Dementia. In Julian C. Hughes, Stephen J. Louw & Steven R. Sabat (eds.), Dementia: Mind, Meaning, and the Person. Oxford University Press.
    A. Harry Lesser (2006). Dementia and Personal Identity. In Julian C. Hughes, Stephen J. Louw & Steven R. Sabat (eds.), Dementia: Mind, Meaning, and the Person. Oxford University Press.
    Maartje Schermer (2003). In Search of `the Good Life' for Demented Elderly. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 6 (1):35-44.
    Dan W. Brock (1988). Justice and the Severely Demented Elderly. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 13 (1):73-99.

    Analytics

    Monthly downloads

    Added to index

    2009-01-28

    Total downloads

    38 ( #30,942 of 549,198 )

    Recent downloads (6 months)

    1 ( #63,397 of 549,198 )

    How can I increase my downloads?


    My notes
    Sign in to use this feature


    Discussion
    Start a new thread
    Order:
    There  are no threads in this forum
    Nothing in this forum yet.

    Other forums