Health and disease as practical concepts
Exploring function in context-specific definitions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21702649 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rik van der Linden (0000-0002-9642-3715, Erasmus MC), Maartje H N Schermer (0000-0003-4283-9659, Erasmus MC) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 131-140 |
| Publication date | 2022-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Medicine Health Care and Philosophy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1386-7423 • E-ISSN: 1572-8633 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11019-021-10058-9 |
| PMID | 34783971 |
| OpenAlex | W3211828861 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 35 |
Despite the longstanding debate on definitions of health and disease concepts, and the multitude of accounts that have been developed, no consensus has been reached. This is problematic, as the way we define health and disease has far-reaching practical consequences. In recent contributions it is proposed to view health and disease as practical- and plural concepts. Instead of searching for a general definition, it is proposed to stipulate context-specific definitions. However, it is not clear how this should be realized. In this paper, we review recent contributions to the debate, and examine the importance of context-specific definitions. In particular, we explore the usefulness of analyzing the relation between the practical function of a definition and the context it is deployed in. We demonstrate that the variety of functions that health and disease concepts need to serve makes the formulation of monistic definitions not only problematic but also undesirable. We conclude that the analysis of the practical function in relation to the context is key when formulating context-specific definitions for health and disease. At last, we discuss challenges for the pluralist stance and make recommendations for future research
Alternative medicine · Biology · Disease · Epistemology · Evolutionary biology · Medical law · Pathology · Philosophy of biology · Philosophy of medicine · Philosophy of science · Psychiatry · Empathy and Medical Education · Healthcare cost, quality, practices · Medicine · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Philosophy
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| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2.25 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |