Philosophy of Health

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

In this class we will explore the concept of health, asking what health is, and how it is related to well-being, disease, disability, illness, neurodiversity, medicine, and other related notions. We will ask how and when to extend the traditional notion of physical health to include domains such as mental health, sexual health, and social health. We will look at how individual health and public health are measured and often monetized. We will also explore "healthism," which is the idea that we each have a responsibility to be healthy and that it is society's business to try to keep us healthy, and we will examine the complicated ethical and political effects of healthism.