A couple of months ago, I posted a retrospective of my work in academic philosophy. Primarily, that work concerned the use of practices as a fundamental unit of investigation in the social sciences and social philosophy. But I also had a lot to say in my work about labels.
My first book covered the topic extensively. In it, I laid out a three-part model of how labels interact with the people the labels pick out. And I explored a wide range of case studies in the social sciences and everyday life.
As it turns out, labels aren’t just inert, lifeless tags we place on something. They come to life. In many ways, classifying people isn’t like classifying rocks.
And so, I approached The Age of Diagnosis by Suzanne O’Sullivan with both excitement and trepidation. It promised to take on a topic very much up my alley. But it’s far easier to address this topic poorly than to do it well.
I shouldn’t have been so nervous. The Age of Diagnosis is very much worth a read.
The author is a neurologist who often treats patients who present with symptoms of psychosomatic illness. And in The Age of Diagnosis she brings her expertise to bear on a uniquely contemporary problem. She covers the vast, often problematic explosion in medical diagnostic labels.
Continue reading
