Esthetic characteristics of disease (linguistic concept analysis).

Abstract

The adequacy of referring disease to the esthetic category of «ugly» on the basis of the analysis of verbal means of representation of the concept in English and in Russian is regarded in the article. The author examines some verbal means of realization of the category of aesthetic evaluation of disease in English and Russian linguistic cultures, in order to see if disease can be referred to the aesthetic category of «ugliness».  The study based on the analysis of various sources reveals elusiveness of the concept disease in the linguistic conciseness of the members of both cultures. The author makes an attempt to find a basis for a more unambiguous reference of illness to evil (which can be traced in the etymology of words, nominating disease in both languages). This causes necessity to reveal value characteristics by determining the aesthetic appreciation of this phenomenon in the society. For this, more than 1.000 language units in each language have been analyzed by the author. The study shows that blurred boundaries between aesthetic appreciation of «beautiful» and «ugly» with regard to disease do not allow to refer disease exclusively to the aesthetic category of «ugliness».  More accurate answers in further studies with new factual material are expected.