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1. [Interfaces between anthropology and the disciplines of the health area: a search for new conceptual approaches].

Author

Raynaut C

Subjects
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome epidemiology, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome prevention & control, Adolescent, Adult, Africa epidemiology, Attitude to Death, Attitude to Health, Female, Humans, Individuality, Male, Models, Theoretical, Public Health, Reality Testing, Residence Characteristics, Risk Factors, Socioeconomic Factors, Stress, Psychological, Tissue and Organ Procurement, Anthropology, Health, Knowledge, Social Sciences
Abstract

In studying how societies consider and deal with the human body both as a symbolic as well as a biological entity, anthropology situates itself at the nexus of two axes. These occupy a central epistemological space in the discipline and consist of: the analysis of social facts, ranging from their manifestations in the lives of individuals, to those manifested in the collective life of groups; and the observation of reality, ranging from its material to its immaterial or ideal aspects. This singular position enriches the anthropology of health and opens up theoretical and methodological perspectives that go beyond those of medical anthropology and the anthropology of illness in their restricted focus upon the social parameters of biological disorders, the causes of suffering, and misfortune. This paper attempts to reflect upon examples which encompass the above two axes showing how the anthropology of health can improve our understanding.

Published
2006

2. [The extent of imposture].

Author

Aleksandrowicz A

Subjects
Humans, Biological Science Disciplines, Philosophy, Public Health, Social Sciences
Abstract

This paper comments on Sokal and Bricmont's stance towards interdisciplinary approaches between the human and natural sciences, as stated in their controversial book Impostures Intellectuelles (Fashionable Nonsense) (1999). It happens that interdisciplinary is a subject of major importance to "new paradigms" in Public Health. First, the paper identifies different types of interaction between these "two cultures", such as transdisciplinary trends and the "Science Wars", and emphasizes their unproductive aspects. Second, it proposes a re-evaluation of pragmatism as a suitable way of including philosophical considerations in interdisciplinary Public Health research, exemplified by a correlation between the ideas of Henri Atlan (1991) and notions of risk theory (or model).

Published
2000
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3. [The end of cognition? Science and technology studies challenge the concept of the cognising agent].

Author

Woolgar S

Subjects
History, 20th Century, Science history, Science methods, Science trends, Cognition classification, Cognition physiology, Philosophy history, Social Sciences history, Social Sciences methods, Social Sciences trends
Abstract

The concept of 'cognition' is central to a wide literature in social science and philosophy where a key assumption conceptualises the central unit of analysis as a cognising agent. However, recent developments in Science and Technology Studies (STS) question this assumption and suggest the basis for its modification. The paper describes and evaluates these developments. It examines critiques for the "received view" of science and suggests that nothing less than a full scale analytic inversion is needed adequately to confront entrenched conceptions about cognition. It surveys progressive attempts to achieve symmetry in STS. It then considers three sets of key assumptions about agency: 1. what is the agent doing?; 2. what is the nature of the agent?; and 3. why should human agents have the monopoly on human attributes?

Published
1995