Empirical and philosophical aspects of a definition of health and disease

Manuel Lavados

pp. 187-206

in: Paulina Taboada, Kateryna Fedoryka, Patricia Donohue-White (eds), Person, society and value, Berlin, Springer, 2002

Abstract

The first part of this article undertakes the task of examining the phenomenon of disease as it is encountered in the clinical setting, with the aim of adequately determining the concept. We shall find that disease constitutes a family of concepts, which are related but distinguishable. The categories of disease, understood broadly, which shall emerge in our examination are illness; disease, understood narrowly; and injury. The narrow determination of "disease" falls within the extension of the broad genus of disease in conformity with an unfortunate ambiguity of language.