“From pourquoi to pour quoi.” What is anorexia nervosa? A philosophical and historical perspective in favour of a pathology of intentionality
Abstract
Background. – Anorexia nervosa is an illness for which no clear aetiology has yet been found. Patients suffering from this disease are often misunderstood and management is difficult. The difficulty of confining anorexia nervosa to one or more obvious causes – combined with the lack of an effective empirical treatment – is a major obstacle to health professionals’ sense of usefulness and professional accomplishment and, ultimately, to a lack of sense of medical action in the face of management failure. Objective. – To go beyond the field of linear determinism, we propose to shift from an aetiological paradigm to a teleological paradigm to better understand anorexia nervosa. Method. – Philosophical reflection based on an epistemological exploration. Results. – We demonstrate that it is possible to think of anorexia nervosa as a pathology of intentionality. We propose to redefine anorexia nervosa as the combination of a pathological intentionality associated with an unattainable goal. Conclusion. – Beyond the aetiologies of the disease, it is necessary to understand anorexia nervosa in terms of goal, taking into consideration the symptom which should not be reduced to a non-eating behaviour – which would be tautological in itself – but should also be understood as a symbolic and meaningful way of expressing an ultimately pathological intention.
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BibTeX
@article{vilhem2026from,
title = {{“From pourquoi to pour quoi.” What is anorexia nervosa? A philosophical and historical perspective in favour of a pathology of intentionality}},
author = {Steve Vilhem},
journal = {In Analysis},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1016/j.inan.2021.10.010},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05498951v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - “From pourquoi to pour quoi.” What is anorexia nervosa? A philosophical and historical perspective in favour of a pathology of intentionality
AU - Steve Vilhem
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/10
JO - In Analysis
DO - 10.1016/j.inan.2021.10.010
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05498951v1
AB - Background. – Anorexia nervosa is an illness for which no clear aetiology has yet been found. Patients suffering from this disease are often misunderstood and management is difficult. The difficulty of confining anorexia nervosa to one or more obvious causes – combined with the lack of an effective empirical treatment – is a major obstacle to health professionals’ sense of usefulness and professional accomplishment and, ultimately, to a lack of sense of medical action in the face of management failure. Objective. – To go beyond the field of linear determinism, we propose to shift from an aetiological paradigm to a teleological paradigm to better understand anorexia nervosa. Method. – Philosophical reflection based on an epistemological exploration. Results. – We demonstrate that it is possible to think of anorexia nervosa as a pathology of intentionality. We propose to redefine anorexia nervosa as the combination of a pathological intentionality associated with an unattainable goal. Conclusion. – Beyond the aetiologies of the disease, it is necessary to understand anorexia nervosa in terms of goal, taking into consideration the symptom which should not be reduced to a non-eating behaviour – which would be tautological in itself – but should also be understood as a symbolic and meaningful way of expressing an ultimately pathological intention.
SN - 2542-3606
ER -