by Robert A. Aronowitz
about Robert A. Aronowitz
Robert A. Aronowitz is the Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Social Sciences and a professor of history and the sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Risky Medicine: Our Quest to Cure Fear and Uncertainty.
Disease
For over twenty years, I have taught an undergraduate seminar whose central question has been, “What is disease?” In the first class, I often evoke the parable of the visually impaired and the elephant. Depending on which parts they touch, each person perceives something different. Similarly, what disease is depends on when, where, and with what tools and preconceptions you encounter it.