The therapeutic hand

Abstract

The purpose of our work is, first of all, to rekindle a sense of wonderment as the basic starting point for a philosophical reflection on the hand, initially focusing on the special versatility, ductility and protean character of the human hand. It is then a question of examining and reassessing its inimitable practical dimension, especially in the field of health, as an essential part of the art of healing and caring. Following the inspiration of classical works concerned with the relationship between doctor and patient, one might argue that in medical practice the hand maintains a balance between specialisation and multifunctionality. In the field of health care, despite a necessary reduction of initial possibilities and an inevitable specialisation of its tasks, the hand maintains its characteristic multifunctionality. In fact, the therapeutic hand is, all at the same time, instrumental, cognitive and pathic. Of all these features, the one that appears as the least technified or least specialised, that is the pathic or affective hand, is, nevertheless, the bedrock with respect to the others. The pathic or affective dimension is the very basis of the therapeutic hand, since it is this that drives it to act for the good of the patient, and it is this dimension that in some way must direct and involve any operation of the therapeutic hand, whose ultimate purpose is the care and healing of the human person.