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A two-dimensional theory of health
Malmö högskola, Faculty of Health and Society (HS), Department of Health and Welfare Studies (HV).ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1224-3291
2007 (English)In: Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, ISSN 1386-7415, E-ISSN 1573-0980, Vol. 28, no 2, p. 257-284Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The starting point for the contemporary debate about theories of health should be the holistic theory of Lennart Nordenfelt, claims George Khushf, not the refuted theory of Christopher Boorse. The present paper is an attempt to challenge Nordenfelt and to present an alternative theory to his and other theories, including Boorse’s. The main problems with Nordenfelt’s theory are that it is relativistic, that it leads to counter-intuitive results as to what goals can count as healthy, that it focuses on the wrong kind of abilities, that it makes measuring health extra difficult, and that it does not give us a sufficient account of health, at most a necessary one. The alternative theory proposed is two-dimensional. First, health is to have developed the abilities and dispositions that members of one’s culture typically develop, and be able to use them, in acceptable circumstances; and second, health is to experience positive moods and sensations, the kinds that have internal causes. The theory solves the problems attached to Nordenfelt’s theory by not being individual relativistic, by eliminating the goals in the definition, by giving an alternative interpretation of “ability,” by making health easier to measure, and by adding the dimension of well-being that, together with health as ability, not only gives us a necessary, but also a sufficient, account of health.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2007. Vol. 28, no 2, p. 257-284
Keywords [en]
ability, holistic theory, goals, suffering, basic ability, well-being
National Category
Public Health, Global Health and Social Medicine
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-4804DOI: 10.1007/s11017-007-9043-zISI: 000250959100001PubMedID: 17909986Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-38449097660Local ID: 4521OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-4804DiVA, id: diva2:1401638
Available from: 2020-02-28 Created: 2020-02-28 Last updated: 2025-02-20Bibliographically approved

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Tengland, Per-Anders

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