ABSTRACT
These three modes of ageing may be summarized as cosmic, social and individual ageing, and may be thought of as a historical sequence. In a powerful critique, Cole (1992) demonstrates the inadequacy of the current “individual” mode of ageing. He sees professional medical and welfare groups usurping people’s ability to define their own problems, turning them into technical matters and thus depriving them of moral or spiritual significance. The dominance of scientific and technical knowledge (Habermas 1971) may enable us to prolong life but it fails to give meaning to the prolonged existence of ageing and, in some cases, dysfunctional bodies. Cole uses examples from his own family to illustrate the problem and to point up the relationship between public issues and private problems (Mills 1970).
