Health as a Social Concept
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5634945 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Aubrey Lewis (Maudsley Hospital, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1953 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 109 |
| Publication date | 1953-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-1315 • E-ISSN: 1468-4446 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/587206 |
| OpenAlex | W2224362631 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
A direct transcript of a conference given by the renowned British psychiatrist, Sir Aubrey Lewis, this article was originally published a 1953 issue of the British Journal of Sociology. The title may be slightly misleading, since the author is actually criticizing the social definition of health. Though rejecting a social content to the notion of health and disease, Lewis does not deny the importance of a social context, and advances a definition of health conceming, particularly, the functions of the human mind and body. This is not epistemological questiono His arguments always derive from methodological issues, challenging the most widely accepted definitions from the medicine and psychiatry of his time. For instance, dealing with the analyses of performance of psychological and physiological functions he ponders that there is no way we can objectively assess what is an adequate performance of functions. Hence, we cannot recognize a health or unsound body in a reliable and valid way. The essay is not as important because of the conclusions the author reaches - tentative and fragmentary - as it because of the questions he raises and the interpretations he challenges
Context (archaeology · Epistemology · Sociology · History · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Obesity and Health Practices · Philosophy · Psychology
Disease, Healing and Problem Solving
Health planning--a method for generating program objectives
Illness and deviance
Health careers and competence
The concept of health status
Purpose and Efficiency in Humane Social Institutions
Disease Ideology and Mental Health Research
The paradox of necessary uncertainty
The Endurance of Uncertainty
A saúde como conceito social
Mental Health and Medical Care
Mobilization in Public Drunkenness Control
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,18 |
| Citation span | 1960 - 2023 (64) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 12 |