Philosophical dimensions of the concept of health

Abstract

The article is devoted to the philosophical aspects of interpretation and understanding of the concept of health. The study of the essence of the concept of health allows authors to get a complete picture of the dichotomy of the categories «health» - «disease». In the course of the work, the concept of Health is analyzed from the point of view of its methodological foundations, namely through the prism of holistic epistemology. Using the historical and genetic method, the stages of development of the concept of health from the ancient period to the latest are analyzed and highlighted. It is proved that the concept of Health has been the focus of many researchers for a very long time. Even the first philosophers and healers considered health as a complete complex phenomenon. At the same time, health has long remained on the periphery of research in the philosophy and theory of Medicine. The authors analyzed the concept of health as a basic concept of the philosophy of Medicine, based on the hermeneutical approach and current trends in considering the dichotomy of the categories «health» ‒ «disease» based on holistic epistemology. Using the historical and genetic method, the authors identified the stages of development of the concept of Health. In contrast to the ancient period, when medical knowledge is formed, the basic principles of medical ethics are created, which have not yet lost their relevance (the famous «Hippocratic oath»), in the Middle Ages there is a significant departure from the ancient concept of Health, which is due to a new reading of the idea of integrity. The concept of medieval health is based on the ideas of sin and salvation. Man is devoid of integrity, because from birth he is defined as a sinful being. Life is understood as the path to death in the moment of salvation and resurrection, the transition from a divided, lower existence in sin to a holistic stay with God. Instead of the ancient ideal of harmony of soul and body, the idea of salvation becomes the leading one, which involves giving up bodily desires and mastering spiritual exercises. The transition to the classical concept of Health is taking place in our time and involves an appeal to the physical dimension of Health, the formation of a mechanistic view of the relationship between the categories «health» and «disease», which leads to the loss of a holistic vision of a person. The return to integrity in the interpretation of a person occurs with the formation of a non-classical concept of Health, in which life becomes the main object of study, taking into account rational-objective and irrational-subjective factors. The post-non-classical concept of Health is characterized by the desubstantialization of the categories «health» and «disease». Health is described as an integral phenomenon, an open dynamic system in the unity of biological, psychological, social and environmental factors.