Wellbeing

"What is a healthy life? What is it to live well? How do our contemporary ways of thinking about health compare to the ways in which a healthy life was understood by our predecessors? In this authoritative new book, Klaus Bergdolt offers a panoramic overview of health and healthy living from the ancient world through to the middle of the nineteenth century, when scientific medicine began to gain ascendancy. He shows that the doctrine of dietetics - an exhortation to take personal responsibility for one's health - has played an important role in the history of the West for more than two millennia. The concern to achieve a vital 'balance' was the crux of the Western 'ars vivendi'. However, the art of healthy living has lost its traditional importance for us today, thanks largely to a change in the scientific basis of European medicine in the nineteenth century. Almost overnight, health was downgraded to something technical in character, something to be measured. Many of the simplest dietetic principles, such as seeking moderation, harmony, relaxation or regularity in the structure of one's life, have been forgotten. Notwithstanding his admiration for the achievements of modern medicine, Bergdolt argues that the decline of these ideas has been to the considerable detriment of society. He concludes that one of the key questions facing us today, at the dawn of the third millennium, is whether we can find a better balance between the achievements of scientific medicine and the wisdom afforded by centuries of reflection on the art of healthy living."--Jacket.