Van den Berg argues that it was a significant event in human history, around the year 1300, when the ordinary closed body was first cut open and by Mundinus and soon by others. From this historical moment onward, it is possible to see the hand with two kinds of vision: with the gnostic eye and with the pathic eye. We can even see this gnostic eye portrayed in the painting of the anatomy lesson by Rembrandt.
But, of course, like the analytical eye, the hand itself has become gnostic as well. The two hands that van den Berg saw—one alive and dissecting, the other dead and anatomized—both belong to the gnostic domain. And yet, he could not help but see a different hand as well. And this difference lies in the distinction between the gnostic and the pathic. He also saw the closed and natural-looking hand of his fellow student—this is the pathic hand, the pathic body, that remains resistant to the X-ray eyes. By the way, the term pathetic is also related to pathic. Pathetic originally meant capable of feeling, emotion, and suffering.
We can confirm, therefore, that van den Berg saw the two hands with an ambiguous attitude: the gnostic and the pathic. Van den Berg saw a nicely tanned and slightly manicured hand touching an anatomized hand that was being dissected in a gnostic manner. This pathic hand belonged to the female fellow student beside him. But, at the same time, her hand was performing a gnostic task. Thus, van den Berg saw the hands even more ambiguously than he himself described.
Selected Readings:
Van den Berg, J. H. (1961). The Changing Nature of Man. New York: Dell Publishing.
Van den Berg, J. H. (1966). The Psychology of the Sickbed. Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University Press.
Van den Berg, J. H. (1970). Things—Four Metabletic Reflections. Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University Press.
Van den Berg, J. H. (1972). A Different Existence. Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University Press.
Van den Berg, J. H. (1974). Divided Existence and Complex Society. Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University Press.
Van den Berg, J. H. (1987). “The Human Body and the Significance of Human Movement.” In J. J. Kockelmans (ed.), Phenomenological Psychology: The Dutch School. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, pp. 55–77.
Van den Berg, J. H. (2021). “The Conversation.” In M. van Manen and M. van Manen (eds.), Classic Writings for a Phenomenology of Practice. London: Routledge, pp. 31–46.
Van den Berg, J. H. and J. Linschoten (eds.). (1953). Persoon en Wereld. Utrecht: Bijleveld.