Metaphorical Immunity: A Case of Biomedical Fiction
Ed Cohen
Derived from Roman law, for more than two thousand years, immunity served almost exclusively as a juridico-political concept that modulated the criteria of inclusion and exclusion determining how citizens became subjects European nation-states. However, once introduced into bio-science in wake of—and an explanation for—Pasteur's vaccination experiments, biological "immunity" began to be used describe "natural" necessary function complex organisms. Today when we use metaphor refer organismic "self-defense," usually ignore political legal history necessarily incorporates. By first considering creative role plays generally then specifically historical residue has accreted throughout its long history, this essay suggests phenomena currently encompassed by term may exceed, or even contradict, make sense them.
Literature and Medicine|PubMed