Healing Without Waging War: Beyond Military Metaphors in Medicine and HIV Cure Research

American Journal of Bioethics 16 (10):3-11 (2016)
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Abstract

Military metaphors are pervasive in biomedicine, including HIV research. Rooted in the mind set that regards pathogens as enemies to be defeated, terms such as “shock and kill” have become widely accepted idioms within HIV cure research. Such language and symbolism must be critically examined as they may be especially problematic when used to express scientific ideas within emerging health-related fields. In this article, philosophical analysis and an interdisciplinary literature review utilizing key texts from sociology, anthropology, history, and Chinese and African studies were conducted to investigate the current proliferation of military metaphors. We found the use of these metaphors to be ironic, unfortunate, and unnecessary. To overcome military metaphors we propose to give them less aggressive meanings, and/or replace them with more peaceful metaphors. Building on previous authors' work, we argue for the increased use of “journey” metaphors as meaningful, cross-culturally app...

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Author Profiles

Anton A van Niekerk
University of Stellenbosch
Malcolm De Roubaix
University of Stellenbosch
Stuart Rennie
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

References found in this work

Metaphors we live by.George Lakoff & Mark Johnson - 1980 - Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Edited by Mark Johnson.
Metaphors We Live By.George Lakoff & Mark Johnson - 1980 - Ethics 93 (3):619-621.
Models and metaphors.Max Black - 1962 - Ithaca, N.Y.,: Cornell University Press.
Models and Metaphors: Studies in Language and Philosophy.Max Black - 1962 - Ithaca, N.Y.,: Cornell University Press.
Metaphors We Live by.Max Black - 1980 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 40 (2):208-210.

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