The Human Body in Western Thought: From Mechanization to Dehumanization
Ali Yansori
The European Legacy September 3, 2025 DOI: 10.1080/10848770.2025.2535038 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Renaissance anatomists' efforts to understand the human body as a machine created a legacy that underlies the dehumanizing and mechanizing tendencies of modern science. Drawing on Laing, Husserl, and Merleau-Ponty, the author proposes that scientific and philosophical views treating the body as a machine can be understood as a form of psychosis, and concludes that a phenomenology unrestrained by current research demands is needed to counterbalance these tendencies. |
Abstract
ABSTRACT The tradition of regarding the human body as an instrument goes back to Plato and Aristotle, yet during the Renaissance it took a dark turn that manifested itself in the macabre fascination with human anatomy and its mechanization. Over time, speaking abstractly about the body as an instrument was replaced by literally seeing and treating it as such. In this article, I examine the efforts of Renaissance anatomists to understand the human body as a machine and argue that it is their legacy that underlies the dehumanizing and mechanizing tendencies of modern science. By drawing on the theories of R. D. Laing, Husserl, and Merleau-Ponty, I discuss the psychological and phenomenological implications of treating the body as a machine. This phenomenological approach provides a perspective through which scientific and philosophical views that regard the body as a machine are understood as a form of psychosis. I conclude by proposing that what is needed to counterbalance the dehumanizing tendencies of modern science is a phenomenology that is unrestrained by the demands currently placed on research in the humanities or in related fields such as psychology.