Pharmaceutical branding: "building the beast" ~~ Each word has an entire volume of history attached to it. Where does it come from? How was it used in other places, other times? Tracing the ancestry of a word through etymology reveals ancient understandings of the need for and role of such a word in a culture and tracks philosophical shifts over time on a societal level [exhibit A: compare the ancient, etymological meaning of “psychiatry” to current uses]. A word with no history, springing up “full-grown” and pregnant with meaning, is an anomaly with a specific function: it serves, not a culture attaching meaning to its life-world, but the sole purposes of its creator. It delivers a very specific message -- cut out of context, simplified, compelling -- from its master to all who invoke its power. PROZAC. SEROQUEL. ZYPREXA. We're talking about branding.

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