title: The embodiment of birth.
abstract: This paper rejects dualism between mind and body to view the self as an embodied biological entity. Rather than seeing the body operating by passive mechanisms as Descartes argues, it holds it actively moves in and even defines its world. Carrying this perspective to medicine presents an attempt to incorporate or work with internal processes of the body; it is sensitive to how patients identify with their bodies. The current discussion over the extent to which women should try to have natural childbirths provides a concrete example of the differences between mechanistic and embodied approaches to medicine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA. philoanat@aol.com
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cosans
mesh_terms: D004532:Ego; D018594:Human Body; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D009321:Natural Childbirth; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations