Medicine and the Senses: Towards Integrative Practices

Abstract

Paying attention to the senses has been part of historical practice for some decades and has special resonance in the history of medicine since the senses play a central role in all aspects of health care and medical sciences. Both practitioners and patients rely upon them in complex ways. Using a range of primary and secondary sources, this article reflects on what is gained by a focus on the senses, for our understanding of both medicine and our own historical practices. It advocates a generous, expanded understanding of the senses to include, for example, somatic affinity.