Rethinking Phenomenology of Health and Illness: An Alternative Interpretation

This paper critically evaluates Matthew Burch's interpretations and critiques of the phenomenological account of health and illness, which are predominantly situated within the realm of static phenomenology within Husserl's framework, thereby neglecting the potential insights offered by genetic phenomenology. The primary focus of this paper is to explore genetic phenomenology in order to present an alternative interpretation of PHI. It argues that illness experience involves subjectivity, intersubjectivity, and objectivity, unified within a structural interdependence. Additionally, normality comprises subjective, intersubjective, and objective dimensions, reflecting its multifaceted nature. It encompasses both a pregiven aspect and a constitutive process. Moreover, the distinction between the lived body and the physical body is a result of first-person subjectification and third-person objectification perspectives. These perspectives mutually complement and intertwine, where bodily transparency and bodily conspicuousness do not necessarily conflict.