We were privileged to continue our third season talking to Professor Havi Carel (Bristol University) and Professor Miranda Fricker (Graduate Center, CUNY) about epistemic injustice, harms in health contexts, and the connections that philosophical thinking has with literature and art. We also discussed the experience of illness, how injustice and epistemic marginalisation can harm patients, and the challenges of articulating illness experiences.

Here are some of our key takeaway messages from the conversation and some good reasons why you should listen to the podcast to find out more about Havi’s and Miranda’s pioneering work.

Theory and practice

Medical humanities often starts with a problem or experience of health and seeks to understand or change it. We often find in our discussions that many “ologies” and many methodological approaches  generates complexity and uncertainty regarding how to tackle issues robustly, though so many of our previous podcasts have shown clearly how these barriers are overcome and the world made better as a result. This podcast was striking as we started with theory: strong, powerful philosophical theory that Miranda explained with lucidity. We learnt how she came by her thinking, and the ground she stood on. From this, we saw how powerfully Havi also leveraged philosophy, linked it with phenomenology, and used these concepts to drive change in our understanding of illness and healthcare. The conversation started from grounded theory, and led to grounded changes in practice and understanding.

Phenomenology

Havi and Miranda both drew attention to the importance of phenomenology, broadly conceived, in health contexts. It is crucial to honour the phenomenological experience of illness. Failure to do so constitutes an epistemic injustice and hermeneutical marginalization. For example, dominant conceptual frameworks might prevent an ill person from being able to convey the richness of their experience, so they might not have the means to make themselves intelligible to health provider. By consistently highlighting the experience of the individual, the phenomenology of illness also serves a political goal by reminding the healthcare system that it can’t lose its humanity.

The arts and philosophical thought

We spent some time exploring how arts like novels, memoir and movie screenplays have value as philosophical sources. This goes beyond serving to illustrate philosophical points already made, but can stimulate original philosophical thought. Drawing on the arts can also help to make philosophical arguments more accessible to non-specialist audiences, which adds to the various strategies to support interdisciplinary exchange we’ve explored throughout the series.

Philosophy as an agent of change

The conversation overall showed how theories of justice can be agents of change, when handled with wisdom by powerful advocates. It was an inspiring listen. We recommend you tune into the podcast!

Dieter and Ian