Modernity: aged bodies, aged subjects?

Abstract

This article presents a critical reflection about aging and old age. In the first section, the main principle on which the geriatric discourse of modernity is based is discussed. The following sections gather the paradigmatic patterns of knowledge and treatment of the body throughout the formation of Western societies.

This process finally leads to modernity and, in it, to the reign of the individuals which exist in a duality with their bodies. Additionally, the article highlights the absolute importance of the material nature of the body in the aging process and the main concern of modernity in a young body that is almost immortal and that suppresses the individual. Basic consequences: i) ignorance of the individuals of the old age class; ii) severe neglect of the aging process. The article ends by identifying some deficits in the management of aging in modernity.