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Health and adaptedness
1Department of Philosophy, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Theoretical Medicine
|December 1, 1993
Summary
This study redefines health by focusing on an individual's abilities and their adaptation to life circumstances, independent of disease concepts. It introduces generalized adaptedness as a key measure for understanding health and illness.
Area of Science:
- Philosophy of Medicine
- Health Sciences
- Human Agency
Background:
- Current definitions of health often rely on the absence of disease.
- A conceptual framework is needed to understand health as a positive attribute.
- The role of individual abilities in maintaining health requires further exploration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explicate the concept of health without reference to disease.
- To center the abilities of human agents within the definition of health.
- To explore the relationship between abilities, environmental factors, and life goals.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of health and illness.
- Adopting a perspective of the human individual as an acting subject.
- Introducing the construct of generalized adaptedness.
Main Results:
- Health and illness are characterized by the adequacy of an agent's abilities for generalized adaptedness.
- Abilities are qualified in relation to environmental circumstances and life plans.
- This framework offers a new perspective on the concept of care.
Conclusions:
- Health can be understood as the capacity for generalized adaptedness.
- This approach shifts focus from disease to the agent's capabilities.
- The explication has implications for understanding and providing care.