Life Extension and the Domination of the Body

Abstract

This paper investigates the prolongevitist debate; that is, the debate surrounding whether to extend human lifespans through medical technology (prolongevitism) or not (apologism). Apologists such as Daniel Callahan emphasize an approach to this debate which focuses on social self-criticism and ideology. I investigate the way the ideology of medicine Callahan describes enables modern medicine to dominate the body and discover that this ideology relies on a dualist conceptual structure. I describe the way in which mind/body dualism functions as an important component of this ideology of domination. By identifying this dualist structure as an essential component of the ideology of medicine, I make it possible to critique and find alternatives to potential solutions to this ideology of medicine. Through this strategy, I criticize standard apologist responses to the prolongevitist debate. While I share the apologist concern regarding the ideology of medicine, I believe their response to the problem of ideology is inadequate. I find alternative answers to the question of how to overcome the ideology of the body through theories of discourse and phenomenology. My new approach emphasizes cultivating a positive embodiment relationship through phenomenological practices and the criticism and creation of new discourses of the body.