(11) The reference to ancient Greek mythology is therefore very apt in this context given the implicit attack on the 'one size fits all' conformity of standardization outlined in the editorial, which is represented by the
Procrustean bed. However, the metaphor was not systematically followed through in relation to users who are sadly largely ignored in this analysis of this institutional logic.
In his plea for the role of consumers and entrepreneurs, Goldthwaite works Giovanni Pontano's Trattati delle virtu sociali (1498) onto a
Procrustean bed by reading this five-part discussion as an early consumerist primer.
Perhaps the real problem is not with ontological arguments as they are situated within a faith community, but rather with the
procrustean bed into which modern philosophers of religion have tried to force them.
It is good to see Musorgsky being parted from Stasov's
Procrustean bed (as he is in Richard Taruskin's recent Musorgsky: Eight Essays and an Epilogue (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992)), so that, for instance, the possibility of influence from the anathematized Verdi can be allowed; Oldani's phrase about Musorgsky 'grafting theatricality onto kuchkism' (p.
The virtue of his paintings is that they undermine the naive effect of transparent pattern that was a staple of the pattern painting of the '70s--the sense of pattern as a
procrustean bed into which painterly gesture must fit--without giving gesture absolute authority, that is, without demanding that the grid unconditionally surrender to and subsume its geometry in gesture.
Any attempt to fix or define or stabilize the body necessarily involves its relapse into the
procrustean bed of metaphysics.
(Re) Making the
procrustean bed? Standardisation and customization as competing logics in healthcare.
At the same time, he is often too narrow, too exclusive - preparing for his critics and readers the
procrustean bed he decries.
Metaphorically, the
Procrustean bed represents an arbitrary standardization to which conformity is forced, and it is not difficult to find parallels in modern healthcare where standards and standardization are ubiquitous.
No book is ever perfect or definitive (I would quibble over young Pantagruel as "mere brute" (42), the place of Panurge in the caritas construct, the urge to place everything on the proverbial
procrustean bed, and a few other things that will lead all of us to engage one another a la Rabelais within the community of scholars we represent), but Duval's study comes as close to perfection as one can reasonably expect in terms of the limits and goals it sets for itself.
But in her talk, "Beware the
Procrustean Bed: Evolutionary Explanations of Love and Compassion," she made a compelling case that the view is wrong--and totally unscientific.
We thank all those who responded to our article: '(Re) making the
Procrustean Bed: Standardization and Customizations as Competing Logic in Health Care.' (1) Each commentary engaged critically with the main ideas we presented, offering some affirmation but also taking the discussion in new (and sometimes unexpected) theoretical and empirical directions.