Abstract
In his concept of an anthropological physiology, F.J.J. Buytendijk has tried to lay down the theoretical and scientific foundations for an anthropologically-oriented medicine. The aim of anthropological physiology is to demonstrate, empirically, what being specifically human is in the most elementary physiological functions. This article contains a sketch of Buytendijk's life and work, an overview of his philosophical-anthropological presuppositions, an outline of his idea of an anthropological physiology and medicine, and a discussion of some episternological and methodological problems. It is demonstrated that Buytendijk's design of an anthropological physiology is fragmentary and programmatic and that his methodology offers few points of contact for specific anthropological experimental research.
Notwithstanding, it is argued that Buytendijk's description of the subjective, animated body forms a pre-eminent point of reference for all research in physiology and psychology in which the specific human aspect is not ignored beforehand.
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References
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See, for example: Buytendijk FJJ.Das Menschliche. Wege zu seinem Verständnis. Stuttgart: Koehler Verlag, 1958; Buytendijk FJJ.Woman. A Contemporary View. New York: Newman Press and Association Press, 1968 [originally Dutch, 1951].
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I prefer Spiegelberg's translation of the German “fungierende Intentionalität” as “functioning intentionality” instead of “acting intentionality,” as is sometimes used in the English translation ofProlegomena. See: Spiegelberg H.The Phenomenological Movement. A Historical Introduction. The Hague/Boston/London: Martinus Nijhoff, 1982: 145, 745.
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Buytendijk was baptized (protestant) Dutch Reformed. In the twenties, he was inspired by Catholicism, influenced by the philosophers M. Scheler and J. Maritain, the theologian R. Guardini and the physician V. von Gebsattel among others. In 1937 he was baptized for the second time, now as a Roman Catholic. With respect to the influence of Neothomistic natural philosophy in his work, his contacts with authors such as the biologist E. Wasmann SJ and the philosopher J. de Petter OP (Louvain, Belgium) have to be mentioned. Buytendijk was also much influenced by H. Plessner, especially by Plessner's view of the vegetative, animal and human modes of being. See: Plessner H.Die Stufen des organischen und der Mensch. Einleiting in die philosophische Anthropologie. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1928.
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I prefer the term “bodiliness” (in German “Leiblichkeit”) to the word “embodiment” (In German “Verleiblichung”), since “bodiliness” indicates more clearly what is meant in phenomenology, i.e. an existentialmode of being rather than a proces of becoming a body, of being incarnated.
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Ibid: 52–56. Van Olst's conclusion is based on an exploration of three research areas: (1) habituation and dehabituation of the orientation reaction, (2) the classic conditioned reaction and (3) “problem solving” in relation to the orientation reaction. In every area the notion of a subject is introduced: (1) as a perceiving and valuating subject, (2) as a subject on the level of the organism and (3) as a cognitively operating subject.
Leder tries to deconstruct the mind-body dualism by showing that its roots are hidden in the phenomenology of the lived body. He pays much attention not only to the sensomotoric, but also to the vegetative aspects of the body (digestion, visceral motility etc.). In his study too, however, the question remains how to study the lived body in an empirical-scientific, though not dualistic, way. See: Leder DL.The Absent Body. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1990.
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References
Buytendijk.Prolegomena: 18–19.
Ibid: 21.
Ibid: 58.
Ibid: 64.
Ibid: 75.
Ibid: 11.
Ibid: 18.
Ibid: 22–23.
Ibid: 23.
In the chapter on human posture Buytendijk again dwells on the central theme ofAlgemene theorie: man's posture is to be understood as a specifically human posture in a specifically human world. This quotation particularly shows the influence of E. Staus. See: Struyker Boudier HMA. Letters between F.J.J. Buytendijk and Erwin W. Straus.Journal of Phenomenological Psychology 1988;19:77–92.
Buytendijk.Prolegomena: 228–230.
Buytendijk.Prolegomena: 279.
Ibid: 281.
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Dekkers, W.J.M. F.J.J. Buytendijk's concept of an anthropological physiology. Theoretical Medicine 16, 15–39 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00993786
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00993786