Major
Philosophy
Research Abstract
This thesis argues that health needs to be redefined in a more comprehensive fashion, namely as a physiological/biological state, with social, environmental, and individual determinants always related to one’s personal needs to achieve one’s life plan. The benefits of this new definition include more emphasis on the distribution of health as a social good.
Additionally, redefining health puts the value of the individual’s life rather than the strict monetary value of their needed treatment as a focal point. It also draws more attention to medicine as a practice of care, rather than viewing it simply as a technology or science, which allows more focus on the social and environmental underpinnings of individuals’ and communities’ health.
Faculty Mentor/Advisor
Marjolein Oele
Course
Philosophy Honor's Thesis
Included in
Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Environmental Public Health Commons, Epistemology Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Mental and Social Health Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons
Redefining Medicine: The Epistemology, Political Theory, and Phenomenology of Health and Disease
This thesis argues that health needs to be redefined in a more comprehensive fashion, namely as a physiological/biological state, with social, environmental, and individual determinants always related to one’s personal needs to achieve one’s life plan. The benefits of this new definition include more emphasis on the distribution of health as a social good.
Additionally, redefining health puts the value of the individual’s life rather than the strict monetary value of their needed treatment as a focal point. It also draws more attention to medicine as a practice of care, rather than viewing it simply as a technology or science, which allows more focus on the social and environmental underpinnings of individuals’ and communities’ health.
