Birth of the Allostatic Model: From Cannon's Biocracy to Critical Physiology

Arminjon, Mathieu

doi:10.1007/s10739-015-9420-9

Scientific article

English

Birth of the Allostatic Model: From Cannon's Biocracy to Critical Physiology

Contributors

Arminjon, Mathieu

Published in

Journal of the History of Biology, vol. 49, no. 2, p. 397-423

Publication date

2016

Abstract

Physiologists and historians are still debating what conceptually differentiates each of the three major modern theories of regulation: the constancy of the milieu intérieur, homeostasis and allostasis. Here I propose that these models incarnate two distinct regimes of politization of the life sciences. This perspective leads me to suggest that the historicization of physiological norms is intrinsic to the allostatic model, which thus divides it fundamentally from the two others. I analyze the allostatic model in the light of the Canguilhemian theory, showing how the former contributed to the development of a critical epistemology immune to both naturalist essentialism and social constructivism. With a unique clarity in the history of physiology, allostasis gives us a model of the convergence of historical epistemology and scientific practice. As such it played a key role in codifying the epistemological basis of certain current research programs that, in the fields of social epidemiology and feminist neuroscience, promote what we name here a critical physiology.

UNIGE affiliation entities

Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département de santé et médecine communautaires / Institut Ethique Histoire Humanités

UNIGE research groups

Histoire socio-culturelle de la médecine et des savoirs de santé (310)

Citation (ISO format)

ARMINJON, Mathieu. Birth of the Allostatic Model: From Cannon’s Biocracy to Critical Physiology. In: Journal of the History of Biology, 2016, vol. 49, n° 2, p. 397–423. doi: 10.1007/s10739-015-9420-9

Article (Published version)

Article (Accepted version)

Identifiers

PID : unige:96838
DOI : 10.1007/s10739-015-9420-9

Additional URL for this publication

http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10739-015-9420-9

Journal ISSN

0022-5010

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13/09/2017 18:58:00

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13/09/2017 18:58:00

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15/03/2023 02:01:23

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15/03/2023 02:01:22

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31/10/2024 07:47:17

Birth of the Allostatic Model: From Cannon's Biocracy to Critical Physiology

Contributors

Published in

Publication date

Abstract

UNIGE affiliation entities

UNIGE research groups

Citation (ISO format)

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Additional URL for this publication

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Technical informations

Creation

First validation

Update

Status update

Last indexation