Open AccessWhat is it to be healthy?
Author(s) -
Elselijn Kingma
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
pubmed
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.452
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1467-8284
pISSN - 0003-2638
DOI - 10.1093/analys/67.2.128
Subject(s) - nothing , class (philosophy) , value (mathematics) , function (biology) , epistemology , computer science , mathematics , statistics , artificial intelligence , philosophy , evolutionary biology , biology
According to Christopher Boorse's Bio-Statistical Theory (BST), 'health' is statistically normal function in a reference class, and 'health' and 'disease' are empirical, objective and value-free concepts. I demonstrate that the success of the BST depends on its choice of reference classes; different reference classes result in different accounts of health. I argue that nothing in nature empirically or objectively dictates the use of reference classes Boorse proposes. Reference classes in the BST, and the concept of health, are therefore not value-free. Nor is there a reason to favour the BST over accounts of health that use different reference classes.