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

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