A second rebuttal on health.
This essay replies to critics since 1995 of my "biostatistical theory" (BST) of health. According to the BST, a pathological condition is a state of statistically species-subnormal biological part-functional ability, relative to sex and age. Theoretical health, the total absence of pathological conditions, is then a value-free scientific notion. Recent critics offer a mixture of old and new objections to this analysis. Some new ones relate to choice of reference class, situation-specificity of function, common diseases and healthy populations, improvements in population health, the practice of pathologists, "Cambridge changes" in health status, and comparative vs. absolute health concepts. I make no changes in doctrine, except to consider treating "normal aging" as pathological by taking young adults as the standard for all adults.
University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA cboorse@udel.edu.
Christopher
C
Boorse
D000367:Age Factors; D056808:Biostatistics; D004194:Disease; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D012737:Sex Factors
biostatistical theory; disease; disorder; dysfunction; health; pathology; philosophy of medicine