THE "INTRODUCTION OF THE SUBJECT" ANTHROPOLOGY, MEDICINE, EDUCATION

the introduction of the subject in physics, by Werner Heisenberg, has led to a questioning of the Cartesian paradigm, based on the separation between subject and object. This introduction of the subject was followed by an attempt to carry out a similar operation in the fields of biology, ethology, and medicine. In particular, Viktor von Weizsacker identified the importance of a new doctor/patient relationship. This active reconsideration of the subject, with the consequent revision of the asymmetrical relationship, has brought with it, however, a series of undesirable effects that we could summarize with the expression "defensive medicine." It seems to us that an "introduction of the subject" is also taking place in the field of teaching and education; it takes on the form of valorization of the learner and of open circular teaching, more suitable, according to Morin, to a global or planetary society. This positive innovation is, however, called upon to listen to the warning that comes from medicine. The protection of the "original scene," which gives a sense to the action of the doctor and the educator, serves precisely as a methodological corrective to the risk of an errant pedagogy, which avoids taking charge of the subject and helps him to acquire a form.