Catharsis
On the Art of Medicine
With a Foreword by Czeslaw Milosz
The process of diagnosis, for instance, belongs to a world of magic and metaphor; the physician must embrace it like a poem or painting, with particular alertness and keen receptivity. Speculation on ways to slow aging through genetics, meanwhile, draws directly on the dream of immortality that artists and poets have nourished through the ages. And the concept of catharsis itself has made its way from the writings of Aristotle to today's growing interest in the benefits of music to health, especially in newborns. As Szczeklik explores such subjects as the mysteries of the heart rhythm, the secret history of pain relief, the enigmatic logic of epidemics, near-death or out-of-body experiences, and many more, he skillfully weaves together classical literature, the history of medicine, and moving anecdotes from his own clinical experiences. The result is a life-affirming book that will enrich the healing work of patients and doctors alike and make an invaluable contribution to our still-expanding vision of the art of medicine.
“Here is a book that every doctor will want to read—an education in the humanities as they come to bear on medical life. Here, too, philosophy and literature are summoned thoughtfully and with great verve. An accomplished cardiologist gets to the heart of clinical work—and so doing, becomes a wise teacher whose words will help all of us, patients as well as doctors, understand what happens when illness happens, and when healing responsively starts happening as well.”—Robert Coles
“Dr. Szczeklik gives spiritual resonance to mundane medical moments and disenchanted science by embedding them in a rich blend of myth, art, and history. The prose style of Catharsis delights as its delays the reader, creating a series of profound reflections on the quest for a humanistic medicine. Szczeklik offers a rich resource for thinking about how we want medicine to affect our selves and our souls.”—Arthur W. Frank, author of The Renewal of Generosity: Illness, Medicine, and How to Live
“Catharsis is the exciting product of an erudite physician who is sensitive to the nuances of his profession and to its ancient humanistic origins. Dr. Szczeklik gives humanists rare access to the biological and physical sciences, and gives scientists rare access to their humanistic interface, to the great advantage of both.”—Joseph K. Perloff, M.D., Streisand/American Heart Association Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics Emeritus, UCLA School of Medicine
“Drawing on mathematical ideas, physics, music, mythology, clinical science and clinical practice, Szczeklik never forces the issues or compels. He treads lightly. He reminds and explains. He draws attention to details of physiology that can be explained and those that remain mysterious. He shifts gears effortlessly between the known and the mysterious. . . . He approaches the questions of pain, suffering and death that confront the doctor daily and that the world regards as "terrible, futile and destructive". Here he stresses the immense value of the experienced doctor in helping patients in the loneliness of pain. . . . The kathartai, forerunners of doctors in pre-Hippocratic Greece, were said to purify the soul by the soothing and calming combination of music, dance, poetry and song. Szczeklik is in tune with them.”—Niall O'Higgins, Times Higher Education Supplement
1. Ribbons
2. Constellations
3. The Elixir of Life
4. A Tangle of Serpents
5. In between Art and Science
6. The Rhythm of the Heart
7. A Purifying Power
8. Suffering
9. Exitus
10. Chimera
11. After the Genome
12. Alterations and Returns
Notes
Literature and Literary Criticism: General Criticism and Critical Theory
Philosophy: General Philosophy
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