Besides being a biological fact, disease is always an object of social representations. The history of medicine teaches that biological knowledge of disease has never ruled out thinking about collective imaginations and their associated practices. From the Hippocratic humeral theory to modern epidemiology, from Galenic medicine to twentieth century oncology, pathological events have required the application of knowledge that takes into account their organic characteristics along with requiring a discourse to determine the causes and social consequences of the disease. It is therefore necessary to restore the dialogue between medicine and the humanities, which the scientific expertise of both domains of knowledge should enrich rather than impede. Only in this context of dialogue is it possible to gain a comprehensive understanding of pathological phenomena. From this perspective, the article expresses reflections that could contribute toward an analysis of social representations of disease, which may explain that what is manifested in the individual body is nonetheless built collectively.