The Scalpel: An Introduction to the ‘Anatomising Urge’

Karen Dale

Chapter 4 in Anatomising Embodiment and Organisation Theory, 2001, pp 83-113 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract In Chapter 1 I argued that the practice of anatomy has both significantly shaped the dominant ‘western’ conceptions of the body and has acted as a pattern for the main mode of knowledge. In this it has become institutionalised and valued as a model of knowledge, particularly in scientific method and philosophical rationality. The practice of anatomy has become a taken-for-granted part of science and medicine, as well as a practice that marks out the professional understanding of the body from the lay one. But it is much more broadly influential as the basis of the intellectual tradition. In this, although much of the material in this chapter is historically-based, the ‘anatomising urge’ is of contemporary significance. While it may be founded on the death of the body, as a mode of knowledge it is alive and well. In this chapter I want to explore this argument in more detail, thus providing the context for applying it to organisation theory in Chapter 5. In the first section I shall explore the social and institutional development of anatomy, then turn to the ways in which practices of anatomy have constructed the human body. Following this I shall look at anatomy as a model for the development of a valued form of knowledge — the ‘anatomising urge’.

Keywords: Organisation Theory; Dead Body; Intellectual Tradition; Allopathic Medicine; Anatomy Theatre (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-333-99382-8_5

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9780333993828

DOI: 10.1057/9780333993828_5

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().