Abstract

This valuable book makes available for the first time in English thirteen essays on the meaning of health and on the art and science of healing. Presenting Gadamer's thought from 1963 to 1991, these meditations point to the perplexities that accompany any inquiry into health and illness. Health is not something that can be made or produced. It is not revealed through investigation but rather manifests itself precisely in virtue of its escaping our attention. What emerges from the exercise of the physician's art is health, that is, nature itself. Illness is witness of the great miracle of health. The ultimate aim of healing must be to regain one's health and thereby to forget that one is healthy.