Philosophy of Disease (eBook)

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.

AcknowledgementsList of abbreviationsIntroduction1. 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 disease2. 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 condition3. 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 causation4. 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 causes5. Concluding Remarks