Health and Disease

This Element outlines concepts of health and disease and key topics in the emerging field of experimental philosophy of medicine.

Focusing on concepts of health and disease, this Element provides an overview of key topics in the emerging field of experimental philosophy of medicine.The concepts of health and disease are fundamental to medical research, healthcare, and public health, and philosophers have long sought to clarify their meaning and implications. Increasingly, it is suggested that progress in this area could be advanced by integrating empirical methods with philosophical reflection. This Element explores the emerging field of experimental philosophy of medicine (XPhiMed), which takes this approach by applying empirical methods to longstanding philosophical debates. It begins with an overview of the philosophical debates and their methodological challenges, followed by an exploration of experimental findings on health, disease, and disorder, along with their implications for philosophy and other fields.