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Medicine, Theology and Wellness in Britain from the Enlightenment to Modernity
Medicine, Theology and Wellness in Britain from the Enlightenment to Modernity
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Description
Focusing questions of the soul and its relationship to the body in the context of Britain from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century, this book exploresthe ways in which medicine and theology co-created modern perceptions of well-being. It intervenes in the presumed conflict between science and religion in long nineteenth-century studies by exposing the way medicine and theology worked together to form ideas of health and wellness.
Using religious, theological, and medical history alongside literary scholarship on writers and thinkers from the French Revolution through to the fin de siècle, it illuminates how health and illness are socially constructed. In doing so, it engages with current debates on the nature of health and wellness, critiquing and contextualizing these concepts in scientific, moral, and historical terms.
Table of Contents
1: Revolutionary Uprising, Industrialisation, and Nutritional Change
2: Anglican Revivals, Natural Theology, and the Physical Sciences
3: Well-Being, the Social Soul, and the Rise of Public Health
4: Eco-Theology and Ethical Eating
5: Returning to Fragments: Modernism, Decadence, and Disease
Conclusion: Moral and Physical Discomfort
Bibliography
Index
Product details
| Published | 13 Nov 2025 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 256 |
| ISBN | 9781350410916 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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A timely, clear, and enjoyable insight into the interweaving contributions of medicine and theology on ideas of dietary and general health. Wide-ranging and perceptive, this book shows us the historical foundations of the modern obsession with diet and wellness.
Professor Andrew Mangham, University of Reading, UK



















