Tra metafisica e fisiologia. Il corpo quale fenomeno unitario in Schopenhauer, Cabanis e Bichat

Abstract

The following essay aims to analyse one aspect of schopenhauerean interpretation of body: the idea of Leib such as unitary phenomenon, and not as term of a dualism that counterposes body to soul. According to Schopenhauer, human body, although its polysemy, is ascribable to an underlying unity, the objectivation of the will. The will is thought as passion too, interconnected with Leib , that reflects its movements. Besides, the body considered as organism and as composition of affections and thoughts is conceived as a unity of parts which relate and influence mutually. According to Schopenhauer, this interpretation is proved and shared, from a physiological point of view, by Cabanis and Bichat, in terms of belonging between physique and moral on the one hand, and in terms of interconnection between vie organique and vie animale on the other hand. The essay aims to describe this unitary interpretation and intends to illustrate to what extent the different perspectives agree.