Reflections on the humanities in medical education

Abstract

Background  In recognition of the views advanced by the philosopher Maurice Merleau‐Ponty, this paper considers some of the implications for medical practice and, hence, medical education, of recognizing the human body as an `intertwining' of the natural (or physical) and the existential (or experiential) – something which is taken for granted in ordinary experience, but which becomes the medium through which disease can manifest itself in illness and disability. Our condition is the condition of creatures of frail flesh.