Mots et maux d'Occident. Réflexions pour l'interprétation des soins d'ici et d'ailleurs.

The relationship between words and things, between the language that "tells" and the world that "is", is a theme for philosophers, linguists, semioticists and logicians. It often happens, therefore, that «field researchers» look with suspicion at those who develop more abstract theoretic aspects and, vice versa, that those who are accustomed to theory look condescendingly at empirical inquiries. To face this division which lies at the heart of our science and knowledge will probably be one of the most urgent tasks for the next generations of researchers. Beyond the separations that keep disciplines apart, the paper points at some of the short circuits that put theoretical analysis and everyday practice in relation, also showing that the subtleties of theory are actually embodied in ways of doing things and of perceiving the world, and that everyday life’s Weltanschauung is reflected – albeit secretly – in the way in which we study and read the world. First, we analyse the concept of normality through a precise linguistic and historical grid; then, we discuss the relationship between health and salvation; finally, we question the idea of rationality within the therapeutic domain. In these three cases, the aim is to show how much our way of thinking influences the way we perceive – and, vice versa, how much our way of perceiving influences our way of thinking. In terms of experimental research, this can also be stated as follows: does research describe what it sees, or does it sees what it describes?