Naturalism vs. Normativism
Caylin de Wet u16132875 Topic: A central problem is the philosophy of medicine involves how we should define the terms ‘health’ and ‘disease’. Two prominent philosophical approaches are naturalism and normativism. Explain both naturalism and normativism when it comes to health and disease. Which do you think is the better approach and why?
There is much controversy around defining ‘health’ and ‘disease’. The naturalism attempts to define it based on a statistical approach which ignores ethical aspects and the common use of it. Normativism bases its definition on societal values; which are changing.
Naturalism is the most prominent philosophical approach to defining ‘health’ and ‘disease’ and Christopher Boorse’s
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Boorse defined the ‘reference class’, which involves categorizing different organisms together in terms of particular conditions, such as age or gender. This is necessary as what is normal for one group may be abnormal for another group, such as fertility across woman of varying ages. This makes it more accurate when comparing what is ‘normal’ within groups. There are inherent genetic differences between individuals, therefore in order to define what is ‘normal’ and ‘healthy’ within a group, the statistical average must be considered as the norm. For example when considering what the ‘normal’ BMI value is according the various heights (reference heights), a small deviance from this norm is ‘healthy’, as it is the absence of ‘disease’. Disease’ is considered an internal state which is an impairment of normal functioning. To continue with BMI weight, if the individual’s BMI is very divergent, they are considered ‘unhealthy’ …show more content…
This counteracts the ethical issues which question the naturalism approach. This was the driving model which disvalued the definition of homosexuality as a ‘disease’, as societies the majority value system shifted and decided that such a definition was unethical. This shows that values within a society are not set, and change often. Furthermore, different societies have different idealisms. For example, African woman regarded a more rounded figure as ‘healthy’ and ‘desirable’, whereas Western Culture promoted a thinner figure. They define the brain lesion which makes someone desire gourmet behavior as healthy as it does not cause any undesirable effects. This completely ignores the biological dysfunction. Normativism includes constant changes of the definitions of ‘health’ and ‘disease’, which is not accompanied by medical knowledge, and was influenced instead, in my opinion, the Idols of the Cave as it serves to dictate the definitions, which are used within the scientific fields, by societal values; completely prejudiced. This does not aid in discovering ‘truth’. Ethics, should not dictate what is a ‘disease’ is. However, it does not successfully manage to define ‘health’ and ‘disease’ even from a societal viewpoint as value systems vary too greatly across populations, generations, ethnic groups and religions. For example PMS is undesirable however, it
‘Health’ is a very broad notion, affected by a wide range of individual characteristics, behaviours and contextual factors.
As stated by the World Health Organization (WHO), ‘health’ is defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 1948). The health and wellbeing of individuals is generally determined by their circumstances and environment, a phenomenon referred to as the social determinants of health. WHO describes the social determinants of health as:
Naidoo and Wills(2001, p.47) “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ - WHO (1946).” This definition falls into a holistic way of defining health, which believes that there are more areas to look at when thinking of health than just simply the absence of a disease. It considers the cause of why someone is ill and not just simply about ’fixing it’.
According to the dictionary, the word health is “the state of being free from illness.” At a first glance, this defination seems to be very direct and simple, however the meaning of the word ‘health’ nowadays is much more complex. The above definition pretty much sums up our view of health in the first half of the 20th century.
In the sociology of medicine Parson (1951) regarded medicine as functional in social terms. By tackling the person’s problems in medical terms the tendency towards deviance that was represented by ill health could be safely directed, until they could return to their normal self. (Lawrence 1994: p 64-65: BMJ 2004: Parson cited in Gabe, Bury & Elston 2006, p 127).
The definition of health is fluid, ever changing and carries different meanings across individuals, societies and cultures. Although it is difficult
What is the connection between how a society defines health and how it pursues health?
In the world that we live in today, many people would find it difficult to imagine living in a world where medicine and treatment are not readily available. The replacement of religious explanations to medical and scientific explanations has become a means of social control. If a person is in pain, they can easily set up an appointment with a doctor and receive some sort of medical diagnosis. However, there are certain instances where a problem has not been medicalized, or recognized as a medical problem, and their issue will be dismissed completely. The movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest delves into the idea of medicalization and how it can be used for the good, or for the bad, in terms of the “sick role.” Medicalization in the
In order to understand health, different models or frameworks for thinking have been developed which have been useful. The Biomedical model which evolved since the 19th century from Galen’s (Greek physician 200AD) concept of pathogen, focused on removing the disease/disability and not on prevention or general well-being [9]. The Biopsychosocial model however, doesn’t merely focus on the physical state of
In modern society there is a general consensus that ‘good health’ is something that everyone wants to experience and that each individual knows what this involves. Because there are so many different definitions of health and ill health it can become a very complicated concept. Walsh (2011) states that “In sociological terms ‘health’ and ‘illness’ are contested concepts. This means that the general meaning of these words should not be taken for granted.
The World Health Organisation defined health: “State of complete physical and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity” (WHO, 1946 p.100). Many factors influence health such as family traits, behaviours, access to quality healthcare and environment (quality of air, bad/good water and housing conditions) (WHO, 1946). The holistic view of health combines the mind (mental), body (physical), emotional and spiritual elements to a person (Ewes & Simnett, 2003).
Illich (1990) even went as to say that themedical proffesion (including pharmaceutical companies and medical equipment suppliers) have a vested interest in illness so they create illnesses which have to be treated by doctors and drugs etc. this means conditions that used to be seen as natural, such as dying or unhappiness have now undergone a social iatrogenesis (doctor caused illness) whereby people cannot handle their own health anymore. postmodernists dislike this use of medical discourse because one theory has more prestige that it should be considered the truth.
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 1948.)
The conceptualisation of medicine as an institution of societal control was first theorised by Parsons (1951), and from this stemmed the notion of the deviant termed illness in which the “sick role” was a legitimised condition. The societal reaction and perspective was deemed a pillar of the emerging social construction of disease and conception of the formalised medical model of disease. Concerns surrounding medicalisation fundamentally stem from the fusion of social and medical concerns wherein the lines between the two are gradually blurred and the the social consequences of the proliferation of disease diagnosis that results from such ambiguities of the social medical model.
Naidoo & Wills (2000) defined health in two main ways: the positive approach, where health is viewed as a capacity or an asset, and the negative approach, which emphasises the absence of illness, diseases or disorders. “Health” as defined by the World