"Disease and Representation"

Paper Summary:

The writer explains that art and literature are two major avenues in which society projects its beliefs and views or ideologies. The writer shows how Sander Gilman uses this phenomenon to examine how disease and illness are seen through society. The paper explains how people externalize their fear of disease and that they find a false sense of security by projecting their fear of illness onto other people. The paper explains that knowledge is merely human perception and that our knowledge has increased over time because of machines that aid people in making more accurate perceptions. It explains that in the realm of disease, knowledge is also created through perception. The writer explains that perception is different for every person and is affected by that person's societal ideologies. In conclusion, the writer summarizes Gilman's argument that the representation of diseases are manifestations of society, and susceptible to changes as society changes, in the same way that knowledge is changeable.

From the Paper:

"Humans interact with the world through their senses. We see with our eyes, smell with our noses, touch with our hands, hear with our ears, and taste with our tongues. Everything around us is gathered, and sometimes misinterpreted, by our senses. It is now known today how limited the five human senses are. While humans are by far the most intelligent creatures, we definitely do not have the most sensitive sensory organs. Dogs can hear higher pitches than humans can. Eagles can see farther than us. Bats have a natural sonar ability. Humans have only achieved this capacity through technology in the last one hundred years. So while we are the most intelligent creatures, we must rely on information gathered but much less advanced senses. It is through these senses that society, and more specifically science, has created knowledge."

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