Does it make sense to talk about "total exhibitions"? Critical theory of exhibitions

Seminar theme: "The limits of integration ambitions"

According to the definition initially proposed by Christopher Wild in 2005, the concept of exposome refers to "the totality of exposures to which an individual is subjected throughout their life [...] including the chemical, microbiological, physical, recreational, and medicinal environment, lifestyle, diet, and infections." But what does the use of the term "totality" mean here?

In this presentation, Gilles Moutot examines the concept of the exposome and its use in current scientific issues. He thus offers us an introduction to the philosophy of health. Since its emergence, the concept of the exposome has been associated with the promise of a deeper (total) understanding of the links between health and the environment. However, the study of the exposome is often carried out using a "reductionist" approach via collections of data measured by biomarkers—these biomarkers are considered to reflect the effect of the environment on our bodies. How can we articulate the concept of the exposome with the idea of totality, not as an addition of data but as a synthesis of this data, in a truly integrated approach?

There are two main difficulties associated with the use of this concept: it is linked to an impossible exhaustiveness and it separates the organism from the environment/the internal environment and the external environment. Thus, this concept faces the same challenges as the notion of living environment(s), as an indivisible reality, because it exists only through the complex and reciprocal links between living beings and ecosystems.

Gilles Moutot is a lecturer in philosophy in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier-Nîmes and a member of the Center for Political and Social Studies (CEPEL) (University of Montpellier/CNRS). He recently co-edited the collective workMedicine, Health, and Humanities. Manuel du Collège des humanités médicales(Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2021).