Reconsidering the wisdom of the body: An epistemological critique of Claude Bernard's concept of the internal environment
Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 15 (5):493-514 (1990)
| Abstract | Claude Bernard's concept of the internal environment ( milieu intérieur ) played a crucial role in the development of experimental physiology and the specific medical therapeutics derived from it. This concept allowed the experimentalist to approach the organism as fully determined yet relatively autonomous with respect to its external environment. However, Bernard's theory of knowledge required that he find organismic functioning as the result of an external necessity. He is therefore unable to explain adequately the origin or operation of organismic autonomy. A more complete conception of biological autonomy must include a theory of knowledge that can accommodate the organism as a source of discrimination and determination. Only in this way will it be possible to see organisms as active as well as reactive, as ordering as well as ordered. This shift in perspective is crucial if medicine is to be able to characterize, for example, susceptibility to disease. A cognitive sense of the organic interior is proposed as an alternative to Bernard's internal environment. Keywords: biological autonomy, Claude Bernard, epistemology, internal environment ( milieu intérieur ) CiteULike Connotea Del.icio.us What's this? | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,875 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesDaniel K. Palmer (2004). On the Organism-Environment Distinction in Psychology. Behavior and Philosophy 32 (2):317 - 347.
Walter Lowen (2003). Survival From the Brain's Perspective. World Futures 59 (3 & 4):169 – 172.
Mukesh J. Patel (1994). Concept Formation: A Complex Adaptative Approach. Theoria 9 (1):89-108.
Renata Ziemińska (2006). Two Notions of the Internal and Goldman's Epistemic Externalism. Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 91 (1):395-400.
Hugh LaFollette & Niall Shanks (1994). Animal Experimentation: The Legacy of Claude Bernard. International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 8 (3):195 – 210.
Wolfram Hinzen (2006). Internalism About Truth. Mind and Society 5 (2):139-166.
Timothy Williamson (2006). Can Cognition Be Factorized Into Internal and External Components? In Robert J. Stainton (ed.), Contemporary Debates in Cognitive Science. Malden MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2010-08-19Total downloads2 ( #234,778 of 556,905 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #64,931 of 556,905 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
