Open futures, human finitude

Evans, M.

Abstract

‘Looking forward’ is an ambiguous state in which to find oneself, as ambiguous as that future reality of which the looking-forward is a presentiment. Anticipation can be eager and excited (cats are said to enjoy the prospect of food as much as the food itself), but it can also be fearful (for instance, contemplation supplies the frightened soldier with full dress-rehearsals of his death). For context is all. Prognosis usually concerns where illness may take us and where it may leave us. Often this can be entirely happy: the full recovery with years of active future life restored or confirmed. Or it can be sombre: striking the tempo of the introductory bars to an elegy for life diminished, darkened or soon-to-be-lost altogether.

Citation

Evans, M. (2013). Open futures, human finitude. In J. Gordon, J. MacNaughton, & C. Rudebeck (Eds.), Medical humanities companion : prognosis (105-120). Radcliffe Publishing

• Publication Date: 2013
• Deposit Date: Oct 23, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 30, 2015
• Publisher: Radcliffe Publishing
• Pages: 105-120
• Series Number: 4
• Book Title: Medical humanities companion : prognosis.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1654301
• Publisher URL: http://www.radcliffehealth.com/shop/medical-humanities-companion-volume-4-prognosis
• Contract Date: Nov 30, 2012