Diphtheria Serum as a Technological Object (eBook)

A Philosophical Analysis of Serotherapy in France 1894-1900

Jonathan Simon (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2016
174 Seiten
Lexington Books (Verlag)
978-1-4985-3148-1 (ISBN)

Infos

This book is a philosophical analysis of the development and production of the anti-diphtheria serum in France from 1894 to 1900. Jonathan Simon's unique approach considers serum, a medicinal drug, as a technological object and analyzes its insertion into the therapeutic environment of diphtheria.

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Introduced in 1894 as a treatment for a deadly childhood disease, the diphtheria serum stands as a milestone in pharmaceutical history. Diphtheria Serum as a Technological Object: A Philosophical Analysis of Serotherapy in France 1894-1900 considers the production and use of this serum in France, analyzing the drug in terms of a technological object. To do this, Jonathan Simon draws on the philosophy of technology, exploring the application of this approach to medical drugs and suggesting how such an analysis can in turn contribute to this domain of philosophy. Starting with the manufacture of the serum from horses' blood, Simon then considers the processes involved in transforming the blood serum into a legal medical drug and establishing its efficacy as a treatment against diphtheria. The book looks at the place the drug assumed in French society at the time, as well as the legal and political implications of its manufacture and use. All these elements are deployed to characterize a specifically French serum, as the author argues that the constitution of the drug in its full sense is not only technical but also social, political, and legal. Considering the serum as technological object facilitates a philosophical reflection on the nature of medical drugs in general by means of a thorough analysis of this particular historical example. The insights offered in this book will be of interest to students and scholars working on the philosophy of technology, particularly the medical sciences, as well as to historians of medicine, particularly those interested in the history of pharmacy.

Autor

Jonathan Simon is lecturer at Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: BloodChapter 3: Transforming Serum into a Medical DrugChapter 4: Making the Serum WorkChapter 5: Fitting Serum In: The Environment Shaping and Shaped by Serotherapy in FranceChapter 6: Branding French SerumChapter 7: Mothers, Children, Serum, Saints, and ScientistsChapter 8: Serum and French PoliticsChapter 9: Conclusion

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 27.12.2016
• Reihe/Serie: Postphenomenology and the Philosophy of Technology
• Zusatzinfo: 11 Illustrations including: - 9 Halftones, Black & White including Black & White Photographs; - 2 Tables.
• Verlagsort: Lanham
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Philosophie der Neuzeit
• Themenwelt: Studium ► 2. Studienabschnitt (Klinik) ► Rechtsmedizin
• Themenwelt: Studium ► Querschnittsbereiche ► Geschichte / Ethik der Medizin
• Schlagworte: anti-diptheria • Continental Philosophy • French history • History • History and Philosophy of Science • History of Science • HPS • instrumentalization • medical drug • Medical History • nineteenth-century France • Pasteur • pharmaceutical research • philosophy of science • postphenomenology • Public Health • Social History • STS • vaccines
• ISBN-10: 1-4985-3148-2 / 1498531482
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4985-3148-1 / 9781498531481