De quelques moments d'histoire sur les corps extrêmes

Abstract

By taking three particularly significant moments in history related to the social vision of the seriously infirm bodies, we realize the extent to which our societies and cultures have difficulty in considering them as fully human. Overvalued as divine signs inAntiquity, undervalued as intermediary species between animality and humanity by a philosopher like John Locke, considered as degenerates unworthy of concern in the social Darwinism of the late XXth century, deformed, disfigured, amputated bodies or bodies presenting signs of mental weakness, still remain today in a subtle hidden liminality. Enlightened reason did not suffice to impose the absolute dignity of every human being born of humans - a spiritual vision was also necessary.