Lessons in medical humanism: the case of Montaigne.
Michel de Montaigne, the great French humanist and inventor of the personal essay, suffered from frequent and severe renal colic. He wrote about his illness in his travel journal and in his last and greatest essay, "Of Experience." In his illness narratives, Montaigne integrated disease and suffering into his life and art. He humanized rather than conquered his disease. A mature humanism replaced his youthful Stoic philosophy of detachment and disengagement and provides a worthy model for our own medical humanism.
Wasserstein
Alan G
AG
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. alan.wasserstein@uphs.upenn.edu
D003085:Colic / Q000266:history / Q000523:psychology; D049669:History, 16th Century; D006808:Humanism / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000266:history / Q000523:psychology; D008513:Medicine in Literature