On the courage and freedom of the wounded body: Illness between phenomenology and medical anthropology

Abstract

This paper contributes to the phenomenology of illness through a heideggerian lens. It not only revisits previous findings that position illness, like anxiety, as a privileged mode of openness to being, but also engages with anthropological medicine to ground this perspective in scientific discourse. Ultimately, the paper seeks to characterize the experience of the ill body in terms of courage and freedom, without resorting to romanticization or metaphysical interpretations of illness. In doing so, it offers conceptual tools for fostering a more empathetic and less prejudiced understanding of those who are ill.