4 ms·
Ah, this lovely new trend among academic types of describing an individual as a "body". For a group of people said to be so interested in the human condition, i
by jnbiche 7y ago
Ah, this lovely new trend among academic types of describing an individual as a "body". For a group of people said to be so interested in the human condition, it's a strikingly dehumanizing term.
- wavefunction 7y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_politic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_politic The notion of individualization is a recent one, from what I know.
- jnbiche 7y agoNo, that's a age-old, more general metaphor, This trend of using "body" as a synecdoche for "individual" is much more recent, starting in the past 4-5 years: https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2018/02/24/what-with-all-body-talk/S9Xan5n92TyNWdEsIWUZbI/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2018/02/24/what-with-all-b... The article describes the term as catching on among the activist left in general, but this particular usage finds its origin in academic papers from the humanities.
- brlewis 7y agoI agree there's some kind of recent trend here, but "body" has been used to mean "individual" for a long time. Here's an example from 1782: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comin%27_Thro%27_the_Rye https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comin%27_Thro%27_the_Rye
- dTal 7y ago"Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do." - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Probably even the word "anybody" comes from this usage. It's old and widespread.
- mises 7y agoI recall hearing somewhat archaic phrasing that something was "good for what ails a body", or some such. Specifically, I think it's an archaic southern-ism? Though you're right about the general trend.
- tom_ 7y agoWhat's the difference between, say, white people and black people? It is that the white people's bodies have pale skin - or "white" if you prefer - and that black people's bodies have dark skin - or, perhaps, "black". Any discussion of white people vs black people must, then, at heart, be somehow about their bodies. Because that's exactly what "white" and "black" refer to. I assume the terminology is intended to deliberately draw one's attention to this.
- dang 7y agoMaybe so, but please don't take HN threads on generic tangents—especially when there isn't a discussion yet. Those lead to shallower, ragier threads. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- ColanR 7y agoNevertheless, it was an interesting tangent. Hadn't heard about that word usage previously.
- dTal 7y agoThe article is literally talking about physical bodies, in the context of sickness. And all the quotes from doctors using the word are from the 1600s. These new academics, eh?
- jnbiche 7y agoImpressive that they managed to write the article's title back in the 1600s.