This thirteenth volume of AutoRicerca contains a single monographic text, written in dialogue form by Massimiliano Sassoli de Bianchi.

More precisely, the conversation reported in the volume is the transcription of an imaginary, self-reflective dialogue between the author’s mentor part and pupil part. In a previous meeting (published in issue 12 of the journal), mentor and pupil discussed at length the nature of our relationship with reality and how to render obsolete the sad evolutionary tool of suffering. In this new meeting, which can be followed independently of the previous one, they explore the more specific and controversial topic of illness.

Many questions will be explored, including:

What is illness?
What is its purpose?
What is health?
How can we preserve it?
Why do we get sick?
How can we heal?
Should illnesses be fought or accepted?
Are microbes our enemies or our friends?
How do drugs work?
What effects do they have on our health?
What is nourishment?
What distinguishes it from poison?
What is the basis of proper nutrition?
Besides physical food, what else do we feed on?
What are mental illnesses?
Are they so different from physical illnesses?

... and many more.