"The emergence of this high-tech scientific medicine may be a prime example of what William Blake denounced as 'single vision', the kind of myopia which (literally and metaphorically) comes from looking doggedly down a microscope. Single vision has its limitations in explaining the human condition; this is why Coleridge called doctors 'shallow animals', who 'imagine that in the whole system of things there is nothing but Gut and Body'. Hence the ability of medicine to understand and counter pathology has always engendered paradox. Medicine has offered the promise of 'the greatest benefit to mankind', but not always on terms palatable to and compatible with cherished ideals. Nor has it always delivered the goods. The particular powers of medicine, and the paradoxes its rationales generate, are what this book is about."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Chapter 1; as cited nytimes.com 1998
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roy_Porter
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Roy Porter
Roy Sydney Porter (31 December 1946 – 3 March 2002) was a British historian known for his work on the history of medicine.
6 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Roy Porter →
Related Quotes
"I wish to explore what mad people meant to say, what was on their minds. Their testimonies are eloquent of their hope…"
"The cultural tradition of which the Greek language is the focal point has the longest unbroken history of any in Euro…"
"The irony is that the healthier Western society becomes, the more medicine it craves... Immense pressures are created…"
"These are strange times, when we are healthier than ever but more anxious about our health. According to all the stan…"
"Doctors and “consumers” are becoming locked within a fantasy that everyone has something wrong with them, everyone an…"
"I never really had any aspirations to be an actor when I was young. I wanted to play the piano in a bar, to be the ol…"
"If I do decide one day to stop acting, I just hate the idea of people going: 'Oh, did you ever do anything else besid…"
"I don't really know how to act, I kind of wanted to somehow make it real, and one of the ways I've always thought mak…"
"It is clear that there are as many different languages as peoples in this island. The Scots, however, and the Welsh, …"
"In the days of my early acquaintance with Henley, some fourteen or fifteen years ago, I could never look at him witho…"