Health and Disease: Experimental Philosophy of Medicine - Somogy Varga & Andrew J. Latham

What are health and disease? If a condition is considered a disease, then it changes how we view the individuals with that condition and also how that condition will be targeted by public health policy, insurance coverage and even research focus. In this lecture, Somogy Varga and Andrew Latham explore some issues involved in the classification of a condition as a disease. Instead of taking a purely conceptual analysis of the topic, which is common in philosophy, Varga and Latham employ experimental philosophy. In experimental philosophy, researchers empirically examine people’s judgments in response to a short story. By comparing people’s responses between different stories, researchers gain evidence about the content of people’s concepts.

Presentation of Speakers - 00:00
Lecture - 01:09
Q&A – 47:30