Emotions in the History of Medicine: Between Health and Pathology
Meeting Summary:
Organized by Pilar León-Sanz and Otniel Dror, CEMID's anual international conference will focus on questions of the emotions in the history and practice of medicine. In so doing, the conference hopes to trace continuities and discontinuities in the history of the relationships between emotions, health, and pathology in medicine, and to contribute to the history of medicine and to the history of emotions/passions.
Principle Inquiries:
1. Was there a shift in the “pathological” nature of emotions with the shift from a language of “passions” to a language of “emotions” in Western culture?
2. Were there “pathological” emotions sui generis? Or were all emotions potentially pathological or healthy?
3. What were the dominant models that explained the pathologizing effects of emotions?
4. Did the relationships between the “normal” and “pathological” change in respect to emotions during the nineteenth century?
5. What were the similarities and differences between Eastern and Western medical approaches to the emotions?
6. How can we explain the therapeutic effects of emotions?
7. What is the perspective of modern neuroscience regarding the emotions?