Treating the Body Politic

The Medical Metaphor of Political Rule in Late Medieval Europe and Tokugawa Japan

Bibliographic Data

ID8035360
AuthorsTakashi Shogimen (0000-0001-7354-6299, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume70
Issue1
Pages77-104
Publication date2008-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Review of Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-6705 • E-ISSN: 1748-6858
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0034670508000181
OpenAlexW2149275465
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited31

The essay examines medical metaphors in the discourse on government from a cross-cultural perspective. Drawing on George Lakoff and Mark Johnson's theory of metaphor, a comparison of medical metaphors in the political writings in late medieval Europe (c. 1250–c. 1450) and Tokugawa Japan (1602–1867) demonstrates that the European notion of medical treatment as the eradication of the causes of diseases magnified the coercive and punitive aspects of government, while the Japanese notion of medical treatment as the art of daily healthcare served to accentuate the government's role of preventing conflicts and maintaining stability. These differing images of medical treatment metaphorically structured contrasting conceptions of government in the two historical worlds

Art · Body politic · Government (linguistics · Linguistics · Metaphor · Perspective (graphical · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Punitive damages · Sociology · Visual arts · Law · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Philosophy · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity

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