PHI 2396 Lecture Notes - The Who, Social Issue
Document Summary
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. It is important, callahan notes, to acknowledge that the concept of health" is a very general concept on a par with concepts such as truth", happiness", love", good", etc. We do not have any historical evidence that health contributes to peace in any way. This makes the medical profession the gatekeeper for happiness and social well-being. There are such evils as social injustice, economic scarcity, food shortages, political tyranny, etc. which represent a far greater historical evidence of our failure to achieve social well- being than the lack of physical and mental health. If we treat all social evil in the world, such as war, crime and social unrest as illness, then we turn health into a n ormative concept. , i. e. something that needs to be obeyed and sought after if we want to live in peace and happiness.
