Concise Summary of Health, Well-Being, and Transhumanism

Health and Well-Being Overview

• Quality of Life: Relation to biological normality and typicality of species.

• Impairment vs. Disability vs. Handicap: Definitions per ICIDH framework.

Treatment vs. Enhancement

• Treatment: Aims to cure or alleviate diseases or conditions.

  • Includes pre-emptive measures and surgical/chemical interventions.

• Enhancement: Seeks to improve upon normal conditions leading to being 'better than well.'

  • More controversial in medical contexts.

Health Care Obligations

• Public health care aims to restore individuals to normal functioning, viewing treatments as essential for fairness.

• Societal obligations involve ensuring basic normal functioning, not necessarily enhancement.

Quality of Life and Disability

• Normal Opportunity: Quality of life is affected by access to opportunities.

• Disability can coexist with reported high quality of life, challenging notions of impairment limitations.

Health Status Index (HSI) Limitations

• HSI does not account for situational factors affecting individuals' health function, highlighting the flaws in purely biomedical models.

Definitions of Disease

• Disease: Typically considered a biological or abnormal condition that impairs the body's normal function, requiring medical attention.

• The criteria for categorizing something as a disease involve its divergence from normal biological functioning.

Health Theories

• Normal Functioning Views: Health equated with normal biological functions; critiques emphasize counterfactual problems.

• Normative Theories: Health relates to states of well-being or capability rather than just factual descriptions.

  • World Health Organization Definition: Health as a state of total well-being, not merely the absence of disease.

Philosophy of Disability and Bioethics

• Bioethics focuses on biomedical dilemmas around health and morality; the philosophy of disability addresses topics of human variation, inclusion, and the experiences of disabled individuals.

Key Readings for Further Study

1. Sean Aas on Disability Definitions

2. Elizabeth Barnes on Disability and Normal Function

3. Christopher Boorse’s Biostatistical Theory

Upcoming Topics

• Discussion on Transhumanism in next session.

• Relevant readings include contributions by Max More and Allen Porter.

(15) What, for Fins, is the significance of the changes in classification, diagnosis, and treatment of disorders of consciousness involving the American Academy of Neurology in 2018? 

(16) What does Fletcher mean by “mad carework”?  Provide two examples from her article.