"Body Matters is a unique and fascinating account of human affictions in a world dominated by biomedical notions of disease and illness. In a truly interdisciplinary collaboration between philosophy and sociology. James and Kevin Aho use the insights of phenomenology to help us see ourselves and our afflictions in a more thoughtful way."---Gesine Hearn. Idaho State University<BR><BR>"James and Kevin Aho accomplish a remarkable feat. Their writing is lively and engaging while their observations are deep and important. This is the most insightful study of today's experience of health matters I have yet seen."---Charles Guignon. Univesity of South Florida<BR><BR>Following the core principle of phenomenology as a return "to the things themselves." Body Matters examines bodily afflictions from three different standpoints: from society in general, which interprets them as "sicknesses"; from the medical professions, which interpret them as "diseases"; and from the patients themselves, who interpret them as "illnesses." By drawing on a crucial distinction in German phenomenology between two senses of the body---the quantifiable, material body (Korper) and the lived-body (Leib)---the authors explore the ways in which sickness, disease, and illness are socially and historically experienced and constructed.<BR><BR>The authors make their case by drawing on examples from multiple disciplines and cultures as well as cases from Euro-American history. The intent is to unsettle taken for-granted assumptions that readers may have about body troubles. These assumptions are widely held by medical and allied health professionals as well, and by many sociologists and philosophers of health and illness. To this end, Body Matters does not simply deconstruct prejudices of mainstream biomedicine; it also constructively envisions more humane and artful forms of therapy.