Naturalism in the philosophy of health: issues and implications - 17 (1st ed. 2016)

Ina series of papers published in the 1970s, Christopher Boorse proposed anaturalist theory of health, mainly based on a value-free concept of'biological function', a concept of 'reference class' and the notion of'statistical normality'.

His theory has profoundly shaped the philosophicaldebates on the concepts of health and disease.

It could even be said that thenumerous criticisms of his 'biostatistical theory' are at the centre ofwhat is usually referred to as the debate between 'normativists' and'naturalists'.

Today, the predominant naturalist theory of health is stillBoorse's biostatistical theory. Thisvolume offers the first comprehensive review and critical assessment of thenature and status of naturalism in the philosophy of health.

It exploresthe notion of biological normativity and its relevance for the philosophy ofhealth, and it analyses the implications of the philosophical theories ofhealth for healthcare and the debate on health enhancement. Inthe first section, several contributions identify the kind of 'naturalism' thebiostatistical theory belongs to and offer further criticisms or possiblemodifications, such as the concept of function that is required by this theory,and whether a comparativist approach to health is more relevant than a non-comparativistone.

The second section explores natural or biological 'normativity' and somepossible accounts of health that could be based on this concept.

The third andfinal section focuses on the implications of naturalism in healthcare. 'Goalsof Medicine' is the first paper in which Christopher Boorse ventured toward analysingthe implication of his biostatistical theory of health on the practice ofmedicine, the difficult issue of the goals of medicine and the boundary betweentreating and enhancing.

Other papers in this section critically evaluateBoorse's account and analyse the importance of a positive concept of health.