Abstract
It should come as no surprise to readers of this volume that physicians generally consider themselves to be a source of considerable authority on the topic of health. Nevertheless, it is also remarkable that medical and psychiatric perspectives on just what constitutes a ‘healthy sexuality’ have shifted considerably over the past hundred years, indicating both a change in beliefs informed by advancing scientific knowledge and a reconsideration of matters of ‘health’ and ‘normality’ in light of changing cultural mores and practices. Despite such an evolution of medical and psychiatric attitudes toward sexual matters, it is important to recognize at the outset that there is no single perspective on which all theorists, researchers, and clinicians agree, so that dissenting opinion exists to a greater or lesser degree on almost every topic that will be touched on in this essay.
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© 1987 D. Reidel Publishing Company
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Kolodny, R.C. (1987). Medical and Psychiatric Perspectives on a ‘Healthy Sexuality’. In: Shelp, E.E. (eds) Sexuality and Medicine. Philosophy and Medicine, vol 22. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3725-3_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3725-3_1
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