{"title":"Placebos and Metaphors.","authors":"Abraham Fuks","doi":"10.1353/pbm.2023.a902033","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The objective of this essay is to develop the argument that placebos are a species of metaphor and to demonstrate that an analysis of the figurative trope can help us elucidate the power of the placebo response. The cognitive and embodied responses to both metaphors and placebos stem from the transfer of meaning between two domains, each with rich allusive properties that in turn depend on highly ramified and interconnected neural webs. Metaphors and placebos require an appropriate cultural backdrop for their linguistic and cognitive work and are dependent on shared social forms of life. More specifically, metaphors rely on an intersubjective connection and imply that a relational entanglement between doctor and patient is necessary to the effect of placebos in the clinical setting.</p>","PeriodicalId":54627,"journal":{"name":"Perspectives in Biology and Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Perspectives in Biology and Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.2023.a902033","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The objective of this essay is to develop the argument that placebos are a species of metaphor and to demonstrate that an analysis of the figurative trope can help us elucidate the power of the placebo response. The cognitive and embodied responses to both metaphors and placebos stem from the transfer of meaning between two domains, each with rich allusive properties that in turn depend on highly ramified and interconnected neural webs. Metaphors and placebos require an appropriate cultural backdrop for their linguistic and cognitive work and are dependent on shared social forms of life. More specifically, metaphors rely on an intersubjective connection and imply that a relational entanglement between doctor and patient is necessary to the effect of placebos in the clinical setting.
期刊介绍：
Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, an interdisciplinary scholarly journal whose readers include biologists, physicians, students, and scholars, publishes essays that place important biological or medical subjects in broader scientific, social, or humanistic contexts. These essays span a wide range of subjects, from biomedical topics such as neurobiology, genetics, and evolution, to topics in ethics, history, philosophy, and medical education and practice. The editors encourage an informal style that has literary merit and that preserves the warmth, excitement, and color of the biological and medical sciences.
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