Health - Bibliography - PhilPapers (original) (raw)
Is Transhumanism a Health Problem?Michael Kowalik - details In medical sciences, health is measured by reference to our species-typical anatomy and functional integrity – the objective standard of human health. Proponents of transhumanism are committed to biomedical enhancement of human beings by augmenting our species-typical anatomy and functional integrity. I argue that this normative impasse is not only a problem for the transhumanist movement, but also undermines the rationale for some common medical interventions.
Nietzsche on Health.[Ian D. Dunkle](/s/Ian D.%20Dunkle "View other works by Ian D. Dunkle") - forthcoming - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Edited by Matthew Meyer & Kaitlyn Creasy.details What is Nietzsche’s concept of health; what is the criteria he employs when he assesses individuals as sick or healthy, when he criticizes values and institutions for their effect on human health? This Element is dedicated to answering that question. I begin by showing the importance of this question for grasping many of Nietzsche’s philosophical contributions. I carefully review the interpretive touchstones for developing an interpretation. And I assess interpretations that have been offered so far by Nietzsche scholars. I show (...) that none are adequate to the interpretive touchstones, and I develop and defend my own interpretation, according to which an individual is healthy to the extent that they are able to perform those acts required to satisfy their drives and values. Finally, I show how this reading sheds light on Nietzsche’s criticism of morality in the Genealogy and his project of revaluing values. (shrink) Remove from this list Export citation Bookmark 1 citation
Dispositions in health and disease.[Ian D. Dunkle](/s/Ian D.%20Dunkle "View other works by Ian D. Dunkle") - forthcoming - Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal.details This paper calls on philosophers of medicine to attend to work on dispositions by metaphysicians. I make that call by drawing on recent work on dispositions to show several things. First, I show that the concept has been undertheorized by a wide range of theories of health and disease. Specifically, I discuss Boorse’s influential biostatistical theory of health, Werkhoven’s recent dispositional theory, and Aas and Wasserman’s neglected revision to Wakefield’s harmful dysfunction analysis. I also show how applying a careful analysis (...) of dispositions clarifies and strengthens each theory. But I show, lastly, that objections to each of these views are more easily grasped by virtue of this analysis. This discussion clarifies and contributes to ongoing debates over how to analyze health and disease. And it reveals the need for these debates to be better informed by clear thinking about the nature of dispositions. (shrink)
Mapping lay concepts of health.[Lukas S. Huber](/s/Lukas S.%20Huber "View other works by Lukas S. Huber"), Kevin Reuter & Somogy Varga - forthcoming - -2-.details Health is widely treated as multidimensional, yet little is known about how these dimensions are structured in lay thinking or how such structures guide health-related judgments. We used a conceptual scaling approach to derive participant-specific conceptual maps that position the term unhealthy relative to three clusters of related concepts reflecting Disease, Lifestyle, and Functional Ability aspects of health. Participants’ conceptual understanding of unhealthy was most closely aligned with a Lifestyle interpretation of health, followed by Disease, while Functional Ability played a (...) comparatively minor role. We also observed substantial inter-individual differences in pluralism. Dominant alignment in participants’ conceptual maps predicted how they applied the concept in a subsequent vignette task, with higher accuracy among participants expressing stronger beliefs. These findings indicate that lay understandings of unhealthy are not neutral reflections of medical definitions but are typically anchored in lifestyle-related considerations while varying substantially across individuals. Crucially, predicting concept application from conceptual organization alone suggests that the structure of lay concepts meaningfully constrains how they are used in judgment. Accounting for the dominant alignment and heterogeneity may inform psychological theories of health, contribute to philosophical debates about its nature, and support more effective health communication. (shrink)
Integrating Virtual Hospitals and Pharmacy Franchises: A Scalable, Ethically Justifiable Alternative to South Africas National Insurance Model.Khalid Safodien - forthcoming - A Scalable, Ethically Justifiable Alternative to South Africas National Health Insurance Model. Translated by Khalid Safodien.details This paper presents a model that integrates virtual hospitals and national pharmacy franchises as a scalable, ethically defensible alternative or complement to South Africa's National Health Insurance (NHI) system. It argues that leveraging existing private healthcare infrastructurethrough technology-enabled virtual care and the nationwide footprint of retail pharmaciescan advance universal access to primary healthcare. The model is justified on ethical grounds of distributive justice, cost-efficiency, and pragmatic inclusion. It proposes a hybrid delivery ecosystem where public facilities focus on complex care, while (...) virtual-pharmacy networks absorb the primary care load. A combination of policy reform, digital integration, and strategic partnerships is required to scale the model for national impact. (shrink)
Fundamentos filosóficos e epistemológicos para as teorias-práticas massoterapêuticas na contemporaneidade brasileira.Bryan Axt & [Evelise Dias Antunes](/s/Evelise Dias%20Antunes "View other works by Evelise Dias Antunes") - 2026 - Revista Sitio Novo 10:e2049.details Objetiva-se estimular um diálogo entre a Massoterapia e a Filosofia a partir do questionamento “quais são os principais paradigmas epistemológicos em saúde da contemporaneidade, que orientam a produção teórico-prática massoterapêutica, especialmente na realidade brasileira?” Fundamenta-se na lógica dialética-argumentativa, com escrita em estilo ensaístico. Com base nas publicações de Madel Therezinha Luz, identificaram-se os paradigmas na contemporaneidade, destacaram-se as suas características basilares em teoria e práxis e correlações foram estabelecidas. Os resultados foram organizados em torno dos conceitos primários abordados, tais como (...) episteme, epistemologia, paradigmas epistemológicos e saúde, que possibilitam articular as relações entre a Massoterapia e a Filosofia. Foram analisados e discutidos separadamente os paradigmas biomédico e integrativo, com um estratégico intermezzo entre ambos, no qual foi analisada a “subversão imanente” à luz de Baruch de Espinosa, e os paradigmas “vitalista” e “holístico”, esclarecendo suas definições e diferenças. Com isso, compreende-se que os principais paradigmas epistemológicos em saúde são: biomédico e integrativo. De um lado, as ferramentas filosóficas e exegéticas utilizadas na interpretação do paradigma biomédico demonstraram características transcendentes em sua origem e desenvolvimento, na medida em que evidenciaram o oposto referente ao paradigma integrativo, que, entende-se, está muito próximo de uma dinâmica imanente. Não obstante, foi possível refletir sobre a incidência de tais teorizações sobre o ser vivente de modo integral, sem desfazer-se de sua carnalidade, corporalidade e de seus fenômenos corporais. (shrink)
Food unease: How Ozempic era master narratives burden fat people.[Michael L. J. Greer](/s/Michael L. J.%20Greer "View other works by Michael L. J. Greer") - 2026 - Fat Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Body Weight and Society 15.details This article develops the twin concepts of food ease/unease by examining the effect of Ozempic era cultural narratives on fat peoples’ relationship with food. Accordingly, I make three contributions to the literature on GLP-1RAs. First, I characterize four master narratives relating to food that stem from Ozempic era discourses. Master narratives were first theorized by Hilde Lindemann Nelson (2001): they are cultural stories through which people construct their narrative selves. I identify four relevant master narratives: the miracle narrative, the ending (...) narrative, the simplicity narrative, and the food noise narrative. Second, I argue that these food narratives burden fat people with what I term food unease. Food unease makes the subjective experience of hunger and eating difficult, undesired, or interfere with life in an unpleasant or obtrusive way. Narratives that pathologize (fat) hunger and (fat) eating burden fat people insofar as fat people use them to make sense of their relationship with food. My third contribution is to show that the twin concepts of food ease/unease are more useful for thinking about GLP-1RAs’ effect on peoples’ relationship with food than the concept of food noise. By examining the impact of Ozempic era master narratives on fat people’s relationship with food, I provide more reason to be circumspect about the popularity of these drugs. At the same time, I offer new concepts that can be used to construct counter narratives against oppressive cultural stories. (shrink)
What Health Is: The Blueprint View.Fabian Hundertmark - 2026 - Philosophy of Medicine 7 (1).details This paper introduces the line-drawing challenge for ability-based accounts of health. What degree of which abilities is required for complete health? I argue that the answers provided by existing theories are flawed and propose the Blueprint View. On this view, an organism is completely healthy if and only if it has the abilities it would have in its design state, where design is determined by the etiology of its traits. This view provides an objective, naturalistic distinction between health and non-health. (...) It strikes a balance between pure physiology and well-being, and distinguishes treatment from enhancement, as well as real pathology from pathologized variation. (shrink)
From pigs to people: what is it like to perform a pig-to-human kidney xenotransplant?[Jonathan A. Smith](/s/Jonathan A.%20Smith "View other works by Jonathan A. Smith") & Daniel Rodger - 2026 - Jme Practical Ethics 2:e000065.details Since 2022, genetically modified pig organs have been transplanted into both deceased and living human subjects, and first-in-human clinical trials began in 2025. Yet, little is known about the experience of performing such procedures. The first kidney xenotransplant studies involved human brain-dead recipients, with graft function ranging from hours to months. Interviews were conducted with one of the first surgeons with experience in performing a pig-to-human kidney xenotransplant and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Following analysis, four personal experiential themes were (...) identified: Desiring a more equitable patient future; Being changed by bonding with the family; Crossing a boundary without feeling the difference and Everything changed when the pig kidney turned pink. As the first exploration of a surgeon’s lived experience of xenotransplantation, the study highlights how motivations, uncertainties and ethical commitments influence engagement with emerging biotechnologies. While uncertainties remain, the findings provide insight into how a surgeon interprets and navigates the conceptual and emotional terrain of crossing into first-in-human xenotransplantation. (shrink)
Assisted Dying in Unjust Conditions.Jonathon VandenHombergh & [Scott Y. H. Kim](/s/Scott Y. H.%20Kim "View other works by Scott Y. H. Kim") - 2026 - Journal of Bioethical Inquiry.details The phenomenon of euthanasia and/or assisted suicide (EAS) in unjust conditions has received much attention in the popular press, along with a handful of responses in academic venues. These responses typically defend the permissibility of EAS in unjust conditions by appeal to anti-discrimination or harm reduction arguments, which frame the issue in terms of exclusion from current EAS law. We first briefly examine these arguments within such a framing, and then argue that it fails to account for the deep moral (...) concern elicited by EAS in unjust conditions. To address this moral concern more fully, we compare the policy of allowing EAS in unjust conditions to a hypothetical EAS policy which requires a guarantee of basic care—and thus avoids the EAS cases of moral concern from the start. We argue for the moral superiority of the latter policy and respond to several potential objections. (shrink)
MEDECINE LEGALE DROIT MEDICAL.Brenda Bogaert, Zisis Kozlakidis, Elodie Caboux & Pierre Saintigny - 2025 - Medecine Legale Droit Medical 67.details A growing tendency in medicine is the use of clinical practice guidelines to harmonize clinical practice. Researchers have noted the tension between the clinician’s individual autonomy and the constraints imposed by these guidelines. However, research on their use and appropriation by local actors deserves to be developed to better understand what is happening on the ground. The aim of our research was to better understand how they are used and appropriated in oncology. Even though the research focuses on the COVID (...) crisis, it explores factors important to guideline use both during epidemics and in normal practice. The methodology consisted of qualitative, semi-structured interviews with clinicians and management in oncology in two hospitals in Lyon, France during the COVID pandemic. Our results indicate the ethical and epistemological reasons that guidelines were followed (or not) during the pandemic and the active role of clinicians in their formulation and implementation. We will discuss the question of trust in a guideline, how a flexible use of guidelines may safeguard institutional agility, and for what reasons a deviation may be justified in an ethics of care. The research contributes to better understandings of the dynamic role that local actors play in guideline development, appropriation, and use. It shows that while guidelines remain a standard from which their practices are to be compared (and justified), clinicians use them in a flexible manner and are active in evaluating and deciding how they will be implemented in their structures. (shrink)
The Role of Hospice and Palliative Medicine in the Ars Moriendi.Levi Durham - 2025 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 50 (1):36-45.details There is disagreement among physicians and medical ethicists on the precise goals of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM). Some think that HPM’s goals should differ from those of other branches of medicine and aim primarily at lessening pain, discomfort, and confusion, while others think that HPM’s practices should aim, like all other branches of medicine, at promoting health. I take the latter position: using the ars moriendi to set a standard for what it means to die well, I argue that (...) if HPM’s practices were to aim at mitigating suffering with little regard to promoting health, some patients would die worse deaths than if HPM’s practices were to aim at health. According to the ars moriendi, flourishing at the end of one’s life requires that persons exercise their agency and pursue the goods most important to them. On this view, HPM’s practices should promote patients’ health to enable them to pursue these goods. (shrink)
Euthanasia and assisted suicide in Spain and Portugal: a legal comparison.Luis Espericueta - 2025 - Revista Bioética 33:1-9.details This article summarizes, for the first time, the laws on aid in dying (euthanasia and medically assisted suicide) in Spain and Portugal. Four aspects of each law will be identified in particular: the type of assisted dying, the administrative requirements, the clinical requirements, and the different steps in the application process. Subsequently, the convergences and divergences between Spain and Portugal will be analyzed, with special emphasis on the ethically problematic elements that could be of interest to those countries that are (...) close to legislating their respective laws. Finally, a brief section will be devoted to analyzing how the ruling of the Portuguese Constitutional Court, issued after the preceding sections of this article were written and relating to the Portuguese law on assisted dying, will influence the final configuration of that law. (shrink)
A global framework for integrating public health into well-being: why a public well-being system is needed.[Laszlo L. Lippai](/s/Laszlo L.%20Lippai "View other works by Laszlo L. Lippai"), Klara Tarkó, Attila Tanyi, Zsofia Kollányi, Maria Arapovics & Jozsef Vitrai - 2025 - Frontiers in Public Health 13:1-12.details There is a growing focus on public health initiatives that prioritise well-being. The main question of our study is whether this, in its current form, can really represent a new response to the challenges of previous strategies, or whether there is a greater chance that it will essentially reproduce the problems associated with the paradoxical situation of public health. Based on a review, analysis and evaluation of the literature on well-being in public health, we outlined the foundations of a new (...) meta-theory of well-being and a possibility for its social application. In our view, well-being is seen as a social representation of a combination of positive and negative freedom of choice concerning the quality of everyday life, used in a positioning process involving both individual and collective aspects. Health is a particular aspect of the social representation and positioning of well-being, which encompasses aspects of the physical, psychological, social and spiritual functioning of individuals. The well-being meta-theory also opens up the possibility for more effective solutions to the social challenges related to well-being and salutogenetic health. It underscores the importance of the need for a dedicated social subsystem where the goals and organizational culture of the organizations involved are focused on well-being and health promotion. In our study, we consider this to be the Public Well-being System (PWS). (shrink)
Medicine and Meaning in Life.Thaddeus Metz - 2025 - In Alex Broadbent, Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Medicine. Oxford University Press. pp. 302-322.details Insofar as value theory is relevant to the philosophy of medicine, two goods have dominated reflection: well-being and morality. This essay casts doubt on whether those values are sufficient to resolve an array of important debates about medical practice, maintaining that the value of what makes a life meaningful should play a much larger role. After first indicating how meaningfulness differs from happiness and rightness, the essay argues that meaningfulness cannot reasonably be ignored when thinking comprehensively about the proper aims (...) of medicine, the appropriate constraints on their pursuit, and the effective means by which to realize them. The essay’s goal is not to draw any firm conclusions about the suitable ends, constraints, and means of medical practice, but rather to show that, in order to arrive at any, one has to consider the category of life’s meaning, which should be much more prominent in the philosophy of medicine than it has been. (shrink)
Kindness as a public health action.Tri-Long Nguyen & Ji-Young Lee - 2025 - Communications Medicine 5.details The current global mental health crisis needs action. Here we show, using empirical evidence of randomised controlled trials combined with Rose’s theoretical framework of preventive medicine and epidemiological principles, that the universal practice of kindness is a potentially effective grassroots public health promotion action that could propagate from the individual to the collective. Beyond effectiveness alone, we present medical ethics principles to show that the universal practice of kindness is also relatively costless, socially just, inherently consensual, empowering, and immediately available (...) to, for and within every one of us. We argue that the need for structural changes and future research studies should not justify delaying the individual practice of kindness in our daily lives, since kindness is compatible with research, clinical practice and policy-making. (shrink)
Mutual Aid, a Lifeline for Trans Health in Brazil.Cello Pfeil - 2025 - NACLA Report on the Americas 57 (1):56-62.details When the pandemic severely reduced trans men’s access to health services, autonomous trans networks built on community-based care practices and knowledge-sharing to fill the gaps. Remove from this list Export citation Bookmark
(1 other version)The Ethics of Ozempic and Wegovy.Nanette Ryan & Julian Savulescu - 2025 - Journal of Medical Ethics 27 (1).details Semaglutide, sold under the brand names of Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy, is one of the most popular drugs on the market. Manufactured by Novo Nordisk, semaglutide is the newest in a family of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists used most commonly to treat type II diabetes. To date, the results of semaglutide for the treatment of type II diabetes have been overwhelmingly positive. It is for the drug’s effects on appetite suppression and weight loss, however, that have led its surge in (...) popularity, with many hailing semaglutide as the new ‘miracle drug for weight loss’. Despite its popularity, both the governmental and popular reception to the drug has largely been mixed. In this paper, we address a range of ethical concerns and argue that while many are legitimate, they do not provide conclusive reason not to prescribe semaglutide for weight loss. (shrink)
A Perspective on the Discussion About Health from a Spanish Speaker.Javier Silva-Silva - 2025 - Philosophy of Medicine 6 (1).details This letter briefly discusses how language can shape the philosophical debate about health. Showing an example from Spanish, the concept of health can be characterized as a polysemic word with two different meanings. Rather than discussing which of the two positions about health may be the best definition, we might recognize that these two concepts can be further analyzed separately.
Qué es la filosofía y cuál es su relevancia para la medicina.Javier Silva-Silva & [Elsa González San Martín](/s/Elsa%20González San Martín "View other works by Elsa González San Martín") - 2025 - Ars Medica 50 (4).details El presente artículo tiene por objetivo explorar si la filosofía es relevante para la práctica médica. Para ello, se iniciará con el análisis de qué es la filosofía, donde se mostrará que esta es una disciplina que busca responder preguntas acerca del universo y nuestro lugar en él de la forma más abstracta o amplia posible. Como se verá, esta goza de cierta autonomía en algunas de sus áreas, como la lógica, pero es subsidiaria a otras áreas del conocimiento, como (...) en el caso de que su objeto de estudio sea compartido con las ciencias naturales. Luego, se explicarán los métodos empleados en filosofía, en particular el análisis filosófico y la argumentación. Con una caracterización más clara acerca de qué es la filosofía y cuáles son sus métodos, se analizará si existen aplicaciones relevantes de esta en la medicina. Se concluirá que las hay, pues la filosofía aporta a distintas áreas del conocimiento de manera indirecta por medio de la lógica, ética y epistemología, las cuales son constantemente aplicadas en el quehacer médico, mientras que es importante por su aplicación directa en cuanto es utilizada al momento de definir los conceptos fundamentales de la medicina, como la salud y la enfermedad, los cuales guían el quehacer médico. De esta forma, se concluye que la filosofía es de suma relevancia para la medicina. (shrink)
Opt‐out vaccination in school and daycare: Reconciling parental authority and obligations.[Didde Boisen Andersen](/s/Didde Boisen%20Andersen "View other works by Didde Boisen Andersen") & [Viki Møller Lyngby Pedersen](/s/Viki Møller Lyngby%20Pedersen "View other works by Viki Møller Lyngby Pedersen") - 2024 - Bioethics 38 (9):816-822.details An increasing vaccine hesitancy among parents, which has resulted in insufficient rates of immunization, provides reason to reconsider childhood vaccination practices. Studies suggest that parents' decision‐making process concerning whether to vaccinate their child is highly influenced by cognitive biases. These biases can be utilized to increase vaccination uptake via changes in the choice context. This article considers childhood vaccination programmes, which involve children being vaccinated in school or daycare unless their parents actively ‘opt out’. We suggest that such programmes reconcile (...) parents' decisional authority and vaccination duties. First, opt‐out childhood vaccination based in schools or daycare centres are not disrespectful of parental authority. Second, the programme aligns the default setting with a moral obligation to vaccinate one's child that most parents have. (shrink)
“Standing out like a sore thumb”: exploring socio-cultural influences on adherence to cardiac rehabilitation.Joanna Blackwell, Jacquelyn Allen-Collinson, Adam Evans & Hannah Henderson - 2024 - Qualititave Research in Sport, Exercise and Health 16.details Exercise-based rehabilitation forms a key part of the UK National Health Service patient-care pathway for cardiac rehabilitation (CR). Only around half of all eligible patients attend core CR, however, with social inequalities affecting participation. Few qualitative studies have explored in-depth the key factors influencing engagement with CR, specifically from a sociological theoretical, and ethnographic perspective. Utilising an ethnographic approach allowed us to get a sense of the embodied experiences of 10 participants attending or declining core CR, together with a further (...) seven family members/significant others. This provided in-depth appreciation of participants’ lifeworld contexts as key influences on CR participation. The article draws on these qualitative data and focuses on 1) participants’ initial thoughts about CR; and 2) navigating the field of CR, analysed via thematic analysis. We utilise a Bourdieusian theoretical perspective to theorise the findings, including salient socio-cultural factors influencing attendance/non-attendance and (non)adherence. The article findings highlight how perceptions of CR and the ability to navigate the field are strongly influenced by habitus and capital, and how personal biographies and socio-material conditions affect adherence to CR programmes. The study provides original insights into embodied experiences of exercise-based CR, and novel understandings of the reasons for drop-out/poor adherence, theorised from a Bourdieusian perspective. (shrink)
Please wear a mask: a systematic case for mask wearing mandates.Roberto Fumagalli - 2024 - Journal of Medical Ethics 50 (7):501-510.details This paper combines considerations from ethics, medicine and public health policy to articulate and defend a systematic case for mask wearing mandates (MWM). The paper argues for two main claims of general interest in favour of MWM. First, MWM provide a more effective, just and fair way to tackle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic than policy alternatives such as laissez-faire approaches, mask wearing recommendations and physical distancing measures. And second, the proffered objections against MWM may justify some exemptions for specific categories (...) of individuals, but do not cast doubt on the justifiability of these mandates. Hence, unless some novel decisive objections are put forward against MWM, governments should adopt MWM. (shrink)
Patient Preferences Concerning Humanoid Features in Healthcare Robots.[Dane Leigh Gogoshin](/s/Dane Leigh%20Gogoshin "View other works by Dane Leigh Gogoshin") - 2024 - Science and Engineering Ethics 30 (6):1-16.details In this paper, I argue that patient preferences concerning human physical attributes associated with race, culture, and gender should be excluded from public healthcare robot design. On one hand, healthcare should be (objective, universal) needs oriented. On the other hand, patient well-being (the aim of healthcare) is, in concrete ways, tied to preferences, as is patient satisfaction (a core WHO value). The shift toward patient-centered healthcare places patient preferences into the spotlight. Accordingly, the design of healthcare technology cannot simply disregard (...) patient preferences, even those which are potentially morally problematic. A method for handling these at the design level is thus imperative. By way of uncontroversial starting points, I argue that the priority of the public healthcare system is the fulfillment of patients’ therapeutic needs, among which certain potentially morally problematic preferences may be counted. There are further ethical considerations, however, which, taken together, suggest that the potential benefits of upholding these preferences are outweighed by the potential harms. (shrink)
Optimizing AI Models for Biomedical Signal Processing Using Reinforcement Learning in Edge Computing.[A. Manoj Prabaharan](/s/A.%20Manoj Prabaharan "View other works by A. Manoj Prabaharan") - 2024 - Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security (Jaics) 8 (1):1-7.details . In the evolving landscape of healthcare, the efficient processing of biomedical signals is critical for real-time diagnosis and personalized treatment. Conventional cloud-based AI systems for biomedical signal processing face challenges such as high latency, bandwidth consumption, and data privacy concerns. Edge computing, which brings data processing closer to the source, has emerged as a potential solution to these limitations. However, optimizing AI models for edge devices, which often have limited computational resources, remains a challenge. This paper proposes an innovative (...) approach to optimize AI models for biomedical signal processing by leveraging reinforcement learning (RL) techniques within edge computing environments. Reinforcement learning offers the potential to dynamically adapt model parameters based on real-time feedback from the edge devices, optimizing the trade-offs between model accuracy, resource utilization, and processing speed. The proposed system is designed to operate with high efficiency on edge devices, enabling faster signal processing while ensuring energy efficiency and maintaining diagnostic accuracy. A detailed review of existing literature highlights the benefits and challenges of edge computing in biomedical applications, the role of reinforcement learning in dynamic optimization, and the limitations of traditional AI models in constrained environments. The proposed system methodology integrates RL for model optimization, focusing on edge devices' unique constraints in terms of power, memory, and processing capacity. Simulation results demonstrate the improved efficiency and accuracy of biomedical signal processing with optimized AI models in edge computing setups, showing significant improvements in real-time diagnostic applications. (shrink)
Why It's OK to Be Fat.Rekha Nath - 2024 - New York: Routledge.details Anti-fat sentiment is pervasive, and fat people suffer a host of harms as a result: workforce discrimination, inferior medical care, relentless teasing, and internalized shame. A significant proportion of the population endures such harms. Yet, that is not typically regarded as a serious problem. Most of us aren’t quite sure: Is it really OK to be fat? This book argues that it is. In Why It’s OK to Be Fat, Nath debunks popular narratives about weight, health, and lifestyle choices that (...) underlie the dominant cultural aversion to fatness. She argues that we should view fatness through the lens of social equality, examining the wide-ranging ways that fat individuals fail to be treated as equals. According to Nath, we ought to recognize "sizeism"—the systematic ways that our society penalizes fat individuals for their size—as a structural injustice, akin to racism, sexism, and homophobia. (shrink)
Disease: An Ill-Founded Concept at Odds with the Principle of Patient-Centred Medicine.Arandjelovic Ognjen - 2024 - Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 30 (5):817-830.details Background: Despite the at least decades long record of philosophical recognition and interest, the intricacy of the deceptively familiar appearing concepts of ‘disease’, ‘disorder’, ‘disability’, etc., has only recently begun showing itself with clarity in the popular discourse wherein its newly emerging prominence stems from the liberties and restrictions contingent upon it. Whether a person is deemed to be afflicted by a disease or a disorder governs their ability to access health care, be it free at the point of use (...) or provided by an insurer; it also influences the treatment of individuals by the judicial system and employers; it even affects one’s own perception of self. -/- Aims: All existing philosophical definitions of disease struggle with coherency, causing much confusion and strife, and leading to inconsistencies in real-world practice. Hence, there is a real need for an alternative. -/- Materials & Methods: In the present article I analyse the variety of contemporary views of disease, showing them all to be inadequate and lacking in firm philosophical foundations, and failing to meet the desideratum of patient driven care. -/- Results: Illuminated by the insights emanating from the said analysis, I introduce a novel approach with firm ethical foundations, which foundations are rooted in sentience, that is the subjective experience of sentient beings. -/- Discussion: I argue that the notion of disease is at best superfluous, and likely even harmful in the provision of compassionate and patient-centred care. -/- Conclusion: Using a series of presently contentious cases illustrate the power of the proposed framework which is capable of providing actionable and humane solutions to problems that leave the current theories confounded. (shrink)
Wissen und Dummheit.Andrej Poleev - 2024 - Enzymes 22.details Was ist Wissen von morgen im Vergleich mit Wissen von heute? Die geschichtliche Erfahrung zeigt diesen Übergang als ein Prozess der Weiterentwicklung der Sprache, weil menschliches Wissen an die Sprache gekoppelt ist, und seine Inhalte zu begreifen nur in sprachlichen Formen möglich ist. Während alte Sprachen vergehen, entstehen neue Sprachen: in diesem Prozess der Erneuerung von sprachlichen Formen wird das Wissen gesammelt, geklärt, und weitergegeben, und das geschieht durch Auswahl der Worte, deren Gebrauchswert ständig geprüft wird.
Sistema sanitario neuquino: atención de las mujeres mapuce en Las Coloradas.[C. Rodríguez Garat](/s/C.%20Rodríguez Garat "View other works by C. Rodríguez Garat") - 2024 - Nuestro Noa 18:1-28.details El objetivo de este artículo es realizar una historización del sistema sanitario de Neuquén, concretamente atendiendo a los programas de salud aplicados en esta provincia desde su surgimiento hasta el año 2020. En este marco, en primer lugar, me enfocaré en los lineamientos políticos que definieron las bases ideológicas de las políticas públicas llevadas a cabo en la atención sanitaria neuquina, y, en segundo lugar, examinaré las variables estadísticas publicadas por el sistema de salud provincial referidas a las condiciones materiales (...) de atención médica de la población en general, y de las mujeres indígenas mapuce en particular. Para efectuar dicho abordaje, analizaré específicamente la localidad de Las Coloradas. -/- . (shrink)
Bridging Realms: Western Client Perspectives on Psychotherapy Inspired by Indigenous Healing.Radek Trnka, Arnost Krtek & Radmila Lorencova - 2024 - Explore 20 (1).details Context: The decolonial turn in psychology criticizes conventional Western psychotherapeutic frameworks and seeks to decolonize therapeutic practices by considering diverse cultural perspectives. Indigenous healing has been increasingly used in the psychotherapy of ethnic communities, but also in the psychotherapy of Western clients. The research questions of the present study were focused on how Western clients experience the therapies inspired by Indigenous healing. Objective: The study aimed to explore the motivations, experiences, and mental health outcomes of participants of therapies inspired by (...) Indigenous healing with a focus on issues related to intercultural transfer of therapeutic practice. Design: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were used to gather narratives from 28 participants. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. Results: Participants reported the following long-lasting outcomes of Indigenous therapies: increased well-being, calm, satisfaction with life, better emotion regulation, coping with stress, behavioral control, problem solving, decision making as well as a more sensitive and deeper experience of reality. Conventional Western psychotherapy was perceived as conversation-based, while Indigenous therapy was perceived as experience-based and more complex. The integration of experiences from Indigenous therapies was more difficult in the Western sociocultural environment compared to participation in the place of their origin, within the community of Indigenous people. Conclusion: Indigenous healing has beneficial outcomes for Western clients, but the integration of these experiences is quite difficult and requires systematic psychotherapeutic support in the Western cultural environment. (shrink)
Knowledge Regarding Sexual Abuse of Selected University Students of Dhaka City.Sabrina Akhter, [Shafquat H. Chowdhury](/s/Shafquat H.%20Chowdhury "View other works by Shafquat H. Chowdhury"), Turna Mithila & [Shamima Parvin Lasker](/s/Shamima Parvin%20Lasker "View other works by Shamima Parvin Lasker") - 2023 - Joj Public Health 7 (5):1-5.details Introduction: Sexual harassment involves an assortment of coercive behaviors, including physical force, intimidation, and various forms of compulsion, including verbal harassment and forced penetration [1]. Sexual abuse can happen to both men and women. In the United Kingdom(UK), the problem of child sexual abuse (CSA) has epidemic proportions and is a global public health issue [2]. 53,874 incidents were reported under the 2012 Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act as of 2021 [3]. to their ignorance about puberty, sexuality, and (...) fundamental human biological changes, adolescents have a very difficult time addressing their SRH demands. These underlying causes contribute to high rates of teen pregnancy, STIs, sexual assault, poor negotiating skills, forced marriage, and high fertility rates [4]. Methods: The study used a quantitative technique and a descriptive cross-sectional design. Students at Jahangir Nagar University and the American International University of Bangladesh were the intended target group. Jahangir Nagar University and American International University of Bangladesh served as the study locations. The six-month trial period ran from January 2022 through June 2022. For this investigation, primary sources of data were used. The study unit was the individual student. Non-probability (purposive) sampling techniques were used for the investigation. Results: The majority of survey participants (N=81) 62.2% were aged between 19 and 21 years old, and there was a statistically significant difference in age between students at public and private universities. None of our study participants suffered from any kind of sexual abuse, though they mentioned hearing about it. Regarding the view of sexual abuse, public universities 23% of those polled claimed sexual abuse as a justification for sharing inappropriate photos. At private universities, the response rate for crude jokes is 32.5%. Only the least number of public (2%) and private university (10%) students took part in sexual abuse-related awareness or training programs. Regarding the rights to receive training for prevention and safeguarding from sexual abuse, only 28% of the public and 40% of the private university students replied in affirmative. Conclusion: Sexual harassment is a sensitive issue, though due to various reasons, the rate of reporting and providing justice to the victims is delayed all over the world including Bangladesh. There social, religious, and policy lacking in this context. (shrink)
On the Concept and Ethics of Vaccination for the Sake of Others.[Steven R. Kraaijeveld](/s/Steven R.%20Kraaijeveld "View other works by Steven R. Kraaijeveld") - 2023 - Dissertation, Wageningen University and Researchdetails This dissertation explores the idea and ethics of vaccination for the sake of others. It conceptually distinguishes four different kinds of vaccination—self-protective, paternalistic, altruistic, and indirect—based on who receives the primary benefits of vaccination and who ultimately makes the vaccination decision. It describes the results of focus group studies that were conducted to investigate what people who might get vaccinated altruistically think of this idea. It also applies the different kinds of vaccination to ethical issues surrounding COVID-19, such as lockdown (...) measures, routine or mandatory vaccination of healthy children, and the ethical justification of restrictive measures for unvaccinated people. A more general philosophical account of vaccination ethics is ultimately developed, which is based not on moral duties, but on the moral reasons that people may have to get vaccinated for the sake of others. It is argued that such reasons may be stronger or weaker, depending on various factors related to the vaccines in question and the specific epidemiological circumstances. (shrink)
Stare bene. Un'analisi filosofica.Elisabetta Lalumera - 2023 - Bologna Italy: Mulino.details Different definitions of well-being result in different choices regarding policies, research, medical practices, and personal decisions. This book provides an overview of well-being sciences, focusing on health, well-being, and quality of life in both biomedical and social settings. In seven chapters meant for a broad audience, the author looks at health as both the lack of disease and overall well-being, discusses various philosophical views on well-being, examines challenges in measurement, and considers the effects on older adults, people with disabilities, and (...) those with chronic illnesses. (shrink)
Health as Complete Well-Being: The WHO Definition and Beyond.Thomas Schramme - 2023 - Public Health Ethics 16 (3):210-218.details The paper defends the World Health Organisation (WHO) definition of health against widespread criticism. The common objections are due to a possible misinterpretation of the word complete in the descriptor of health as ‘complete physical, mental and social well-being’. Complete here does not necessarily refer to perfect well-being but can alternatively mean exhaustive well-being, that is, containing all its constitutive features. In line with the alternative reading, I argue that the WHO definition puts forward a holistic account, not a notion (...) of perfect health. I use historical and analytical evidence to defend this interpretation. In the second part of the paper, I further investigate the two different notions of health (holistic health and perfect health). I argue that both ideas are relevant but that the holistic interpretation is more adept for political aims. (shrink)
Holism and Reductionism in the Illness/Disease Debate.Marco Buzzoni, Luigi Tesio & [Michael T. Stuart](/s/Michael T.%20Stuart "View other works by Michael T. Stuart") - 2022 - In Shyam Wuppuluri & Ian Stewart, From Electrons to Elephants and Elections: Exploring the Role of Content and Context. Springer Nature. pp. 743-778.details In the last decades it has become clear that medicine must find some way to combine its scientific and humanistic sides. In other words, an adequate notion of medicine requires an integrative position that mediates between the analytic-reductionist and the normative-holistic tendencies we find therein. This is especially important as these different styles of reasoning separate “illness” (something perceived and managed by the whole individual in concert with their environment) and “disease” (a “mechanical failure” of a biological element within the (...) body). While the demand for an integrative view has typically been motivated by ethical concerns, we claim that it is also motivated, perhaps even more fundamentally, by epistemological and methodological reasons. Evidence-based bio-medicine employs experimental and statistical techniques which eliminate important differences in the ways that conscious humans evaluate, live with, and react to disease and illness. However, it is precisely these experiences that underpin the concepts and norms of bio-medicine. Humanistic disciplines, on the other hand, have the resources to investigate these experiences in an intersubjectively testable way. Medicine, therefore, cannot afford to ignore its nature as a human science; it must be concerned not only with disease and illness, but also with the ways in which patients as persons respond to malady. Insofar as attitudes and expectations influence the criteria of illness and disease, they must be studied as part of the genuine subject matter of medicine as a human science. In general, we urge that this is a necessary step to overcome today's trend to split evidence-based and clinical medicine. (shrink)
Nietzsche's Concept of Health.[Ian D. Dunkle](/s/Ian D.%20Dunkle "View other works by Ian D. Dunkle") - 2022 - Ergo: An Open Access Journal of Philosophy 8 (34):288-311.details Nietzsche assesses values, moralities, religions, cultures, and persons in terms of health. He argues that we should reject those that are unhealthy and develop healthier alternatives. But what is Nietzsche’s conception of health, and why should it carry such normative force? In this paper I argue for reading Nietzsche’s concept of health as the overall ability to meet the demands of one’s motivational landscape. I show that, unlike other interpretations, this reading accounts for his rejection of particular features of a (...) prevailing, then as now, model of health; for his association of health with strength and with psychic unity; and for his claim that health is compatible with, and can even be enhanced by, functional impairments such as those from which he personally suffered. Throughout I draw connections to recent literature on health and disability. (shrink)
Well-Being and Moral Constraints: A Modified Subjectivist Account.Megan Fritts - 2022 - Philosophia 50 (4):1809-1824.details In this paper, I argue that a modified version of well-being subjectivism can avoid the standard, yet unintuitive, conclusion that morally horrible acts may contribute to an agent’s well-being. To make my case, I argue that “Modified Subjectivists” need not accept such conclusions about well-being so long as they accept the following three theoretical addenda: 1) there are a plurality of values pertaining to well-being, 2) there are some objective goods, even if they do not directly contribute to well-being, and (...) 3) some of these values and goods are bound-up with one another. (shrink)
We Should Not Use Randomization Procedures to Allocate Scarce Life-Saving Resources.Roberto Fumagalli - 2022 - Public Health Ethics 15 (1):87-103.details In the recent literature across philosophy, medicine and public health policy, many influential arguments have been put forward to support the use of randomization procedures to allocate scarce life-saving resources. In this paper, I provide a systematic categorization and a critical evaluation of these arguments. I shall argue that those arguments justify using RAND to allocate SLSR in fewer cases than their proponents maintain and that the relevant decision-makers should typically allocate SLSR directly to the individuals with the strongest claims (...) to these resources rather than use RAND to allocate such resources. (shrink)
Responding to the Tragedies of Our Time - The Human Right to Health and the Virtue of Creative Resolve.Nicole Hassoun - 2022 - Global Justice: Theory Practice Rhetoric 13 (2):41-59.details We live in tragic times. Millions are sheltering in place to avoid exacerbating the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. How should we respond to such tragedies? This paper argues that the human right to health can help us do so because it inspires human rights advocates, claimants, and those with responsibility for fulfilling the right to try hard to satisfy its claims. That is, the right should, and often does, give rise to what I call_ the virtue of creative resolve_. This resolve (...) embodies a fundamental commitment to finding creative solutions to what appear to be tragic dilemmas. Contra critics, we should not reject the right even if it cannot tell us how to ration scarce health resources. Rather, the right gives us a response to apparent tragedy in motivating us to search for ways of fulfilling everyone’s basic health needs. (shrink)
Good Enough? The Minimally Good Life Account of the Basic Minimum.Nicole Hassoun - 2022 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 100 (2):330-341.details ABSTRACT What kind of basic minimum do we owe to others? This paper defends a new procedure for answering this question. It argues that its minimally good life account has some advantages over the main alternatives and that neither the first-, nor third-, person perspective can help us to arrive at an adequate account. Rather, it employs the second-person perspective of free, reasonable, care. There might be other conditions for distributive justice, and morality certainly requires more than helping everyone to (...) secure a basic minimum. Still, if the minimally good life account is correct, and we owe everyone a basic minimum, we must ensure that everyone lives well enough. (shrink)
Olfaction and Health.[Rachel S. Herz](/s/Rachel S.%20Herz "View other works by Rachel S. Herz") - 2022 - In Nicola Di Stefano & Maria Teresa Russo, Olfaction: An Interdisciplinary Perspective from Philosophy to Life Sciences. Cham: Springer Verlag. pp. 193-211.details How the sense of smell is involved in human health has been the subject of increasing inquiry over the past several decades. The two main avenues of investigation are: “aromatherapy” – how the inhalation of various odors can produce positive effects on psychological and physiological wellness; how abnormal decreases in olfactory sensitivity are linked to various disease states and an increased risk of premature mortality. In this chapter, I evaluate pertinent aspects of both of these topics. First, with regard to (...) aromatherapy, popular accounts for underlying mechanisms are debunked and scientific explanations provided; I then present a focused review of the empirical literature on scent and pain management and discuss why pain may be especially well suited to aromatherapeutic approaches. Second, the clinical significance of abnormal olfactory loss as a harbinger for premature mortality and as a prodromal maker for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and most recently Covid-19, is examined. Following from this, I suggest how simple do-at-home smell tests can be implemented and should become a standard part of basic healthcare screenings. (shrink)
Costa, cancer and coronavirus: contractualism as a guide to the ethics of lockdown.[Stephen David John](/s/Stephen David%20John "View other works by Stephen David John") & [Emma J. Curran](/s/Emma J.%20Curran "View other works by Emma J. Curran") - 2022 - Journal of Medical Ethics 48 (9):643-650.details Lockdown measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic involve placing huge burdens on some members of society for the sake of benefiting other members of society. How should we decide when these policies are permissible? Many writers propose we should address this question using cost-benefit analysis, a broadly consequentialist approach. We argue for an alternative non-consequentialist approach, grounded in contractualist moral theorising. The first section sets up key issues in the ethics of lockdown, and sketches the apparent appeal of addressing (...) these problems in a CBA frame. The second section argues that CBA fundamentally distorts the normative landscape in two ways: first, in principle, it allows very many morally trivial preferences—say, for a coffee—might outweigh morally weighty life-and-death concerns; second, it is insensitive to the core moral distinction between victims and vectors of disease. The third section sketches our non-consequentialist alternative, grounded in Thomas Scanlon’s contractualist moral theory. On this account, the ethics of self-defence implies a strong default presumption in favour of a highly restrictive, universal lockdown policy: we then ask whether there are alternatives to such a policy which are justifiable to all affected parties, paying particular attention to the complaints of those most burdened by policy. In the fourth section, we defend our contractualist approach against the charge that it is impractical or counterintuitive, noting that actual CBAs face similar, or worse, challenges. (shrink)
Social care and individualised risk in a changing environment.Anton Killin - 2022 - Metascience 31 (3):383-386.details Review of: Fiona MacDonald: Individualising risk (Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021, 223 pp, 130€ HB). MacDonald advances several claims. First, the ‘gig economy’ and ‘cash-for-care’ marketisation of social care and health support work come with major pitfalls: These are explored with reference to specific cases in Australia and England. Second, processes that underlie the individualisation of care need to be identified and critically evaluated. For when risk and responsibility are shifted onto individual workers, what we can expect to see, given the (...) evidence, is a marked decrease in the quality of care that the elderly and people with disability receive. [...]. (shrink)
Editorial: Social, Technological and Health Innovation: Opportunities and Limitations for Social Policy, Health Policy, and Environmental Policy.Andrzej Klimczuk, Magdalena Klimczuk-Kochańska & Jorge Felix - 2022 - Frontiers in Political Science 4:1–4.details Innovation is progressively needed in responding to global challenges. Moreover, the increasing complexity of challenges implies demand for the usage of multisectoral and policy mix approaches. Wicked problems can be tackled by "integrated innovation" that combines the coordinated implementation of social, technological, and health innovation co-created by entities of the public sector, the private sector, the non-governmental sector, and the informal sector. This Research Topic focuses on filling the knowledge gaps about the selected types of innovation. First, regarding social innovation (...) that can be understood as new strategies, concepts, products, services, and organizational forms that allow the satisfaction of human needs. Second, a technological innovation that refers to new or remarkably improved products, goods, or services in terms of their technical specifications, components, materials, software, design, or other functional features. Third, health innovation that focuses on novel or enhanced health policies, systems, products, technologies, services, and care delivery schemes to improve people’s health. Finally, this Research Topic highlights attempts to develop integrated innovation that can add value to social policy, health policy, and environmental policy by improving efficiency, effectiveness, quality, sustainability, safety, and affordability. (shrink)
Altruistic Vaccination: Insights from Two Focus Group Studies.[Steven R. Kraaijeveld](/s/Steven R.%20Kraaijeveld "View other works by Steven R. Kraaijeveld") & [Bob C. Mulder](/s/Bob C.%20Mulder "View other works by Bob C. Mulder") - 2022 - Health Care Analysis 30 (3):275-295.details Vaccination can protect vaccinated individuals and often also prevent them from spreading disease to other people. This opens up the possibility of getting vaccinated for the sake of others. In fact, altruistic vaccination has recently been conceptualized as a kind of vaccination that is undertaken primary for the benefit of others. In order to better understand the potential role of altruistic motives in people’s vaccination decisions, we conducted two focus group studies with a total of 37 participants. Study 1 included (...) three focus groups on the subject of HPV vaccination for boys. Study 2 included three focus groups on the subject of pertussis and measles vaccination for childcare workers. We found substantial evidence of other-regarding motives across all focus groups, which suggests that altruistic motives could be an important factor when it comes to people’s vaccination decisions. We address the significance of these findings for vaccination policy surrounding HPV vaccination for boys and vaccination for childcare workers. We also extend the findings to normative work on vaccination for the sake of others more generally. (shrink)
Jak tělu rozumět tělem. Příspěvek fenomenologie k překonání limitů mechanistického paradigmatu ve fyzioterapii.Petr Kříž & Jan Halák - 2022 - Teorie Vědy / Theory of Science 44 (1):3-35.details [In Czech] This article aims to explain how Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological account of embodiment contributes to the theory and practice of physiotherapy. The mechanistic conception of the body, to which physiotherapy usually refers, assumes a universal model of its functioning and interprets its relationship to the environment causally. In fact, however, it does not allow a satisfactory explanation of the efficiency of the therapeutic methods used in practice. In contrast, Merleau-Ponty’s concept of motor intentionality points to the fact that the body (...) “understands” the practical meaning of a situation. Bodily understanding is then manifested in particular by the ability to adequately differentiate, adapt or vary motor and postural responses to environmental challenges. This change in the conception of embodiment also has important implications for understanding the therapist-patient relationship and the intervention itself. Physiotherapists should draw more on the fact that they are themselves a body and, on this basis, guide the patient’s bodily intentionality towards a more developed understanding of the practical meaning of situations. (shrink)
Not merely the absence of disease: A genealogy of the WHO’s positive health definition.[Lars Thorup Larsen](/s/Lars Thorup%20Larsen "View other works by Lars Thorup Larsen") - 2022 - History of the Human Sciences 35 (1):111-131.details The 1948 constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. It was a bold and revolutionary health idea to gain international consensus in a period characterized by fervent anti-communism. This article explores the genealogy of the health definition and demonstrates how it was possible to expand the scope of health, redefine it as ‘well-being’, and overcome ideological resistance to progressive and (...) international health approaches. The first part of the article demonstrates how the health definition was composed through a trajectory of draft ideas from scholars in the history of medicine, as well as political actors working to promote national health insurance. The definition was authored by League of Nations veteran Raymond Gautier, but secretly drew heavily on medical historian Henry E. Sigerist’s controversial book Socialized Medicine in the Soviet Union (1937). The second part analyses how it was possible to resist the ideological pushback against the WHO and secure US ratification. The WHO’s progressive constitution was not simply a deviation from dominant health ideas, but a direct outcome of the entrenched health conflict. The genealogy is based on original archival material from international organizations and US government archives. The article contributes to understandings of the political controversies surrounding the WHO and to scholarship on understandings of health. It also illustrates how influential health ideas cross the boundaries between politics and health sciences, as well as the boundaries between domestic health policy and global health. (shrink)