The Philosophy of Disease
Published on 16. December 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
X, 100 pages
978-1-349-71621-0 (ISBN)
Description
The Philosophy of Disease outlines a history of the philosophy of epidemiology. It provides a hybrid naturalist/constructivist account of disease and disease individuation and looks at causal concepts with respect to different aspects of public health to show that Smart's conceptual analysis can play a prescriptive and a descriptive role.
Reviews / Votes
"Benjamin Smart's short philosophical volume is a model of clarity for students, teachers, and practitioners in relevant domains, beyond philosophy, of anthropological and psychological, bio-medical and socio-cultural research." (R.A. Goodrich, metapsychology online reviews, Vol. 22 (5), January, 2018)More details
Edition
1st ed. 2016
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Palgrave Macmillan
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
X, 100 p.
Dimensions
Height: 21.6 cm
Width: 14 cm
Weight
1515 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-349-71621-0 (9781349716210)
DOI
10.1057/9781137552921
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Benjamin Smart was awarded his PhD by the University of Nottingham, UK, in 2012, before lecturing for two years at the University of Birmingham, UK. He joined the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2014 as a Senior Research Associate, where he now works as a Senior Lecturer.
Content
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction
1. The Concept of Disease in Clinical Medicine
The maximally value laden conception - Rachel Cooper on disease
The pure statistical conception
The frequency and negative consequences approach, and the line-drawing problem
The etiological account of function, and disease as harmful dysfunction
Disease as harmful function - 'drawing the line' on the etiological account of disease
2. What is a Pathological Condition?
Boorse's naturalism
Objections to Boorse's naturalism
The frequency and negative consequences approach revisited
The etiological theory of pathological condition
3. Concepts of Causation in the Philosophy of Disease
Causation as counterfactual dependence
Clinical medicine and the dispositional account of causation
The classification of diseases, and the sufficient-cause model of causation
4. Causal Inference in Public Health
Hill's criteria and the evidence-based medicine evidence hierarchy
The epidemiologist's potential outcomes approach
Hernan and Taubman's potential outcomes approach
Diffusing Broadbent - a Popperian take on the potential outcomes approach
The importance of nonmanipulable causes
5. Concluding Remarks
List of abbreviations
Introduction
1. The Concept of Disease in Clinical Medicine
The maximally value laden conception - Rachel Cooper on disease
The pure statistical conception
The frequency and negative consequences approach, and the line-drawing problem
The etiological account of function, and disease as harmful dysfunction
Disease as harmful function - 'drawing the line' on the etiological account of disease
2. What is a Pathological Condition?
Boorse's naturalism
Objections to Boorse's naturalism
The frequency and negative consequences approach revisited
The etiological theory of pathological condition
3. Concepts of Causation in the Philosophy of Disease
Causation as counterfactual dependence
Clinical medicine and the dispositional account of causation
The classification of diseases, and the sufficient-cause model of causation
4. Causal Inference in Public Health
Hill's criteria and the evidence-based medicine evidence hierarchy
The epidemiologist's potential outcomes approach
Hernan and Taubman's potential outcomes approach
Diffusing Broadbent - a Popperian take on the potential outcomes approach
The importance of nonmanipulable causes
5. Concluding Remarks