Health and the lack thereof

Abstract

Naomar de Almeida Filho 1 A b s t r a c t In order to conduct a pre l i m i n a ry evaluation of the conditions allowing for a Ge n e ra l T h e o ry of He a l t h , the author ex p l o res two important structural dimensions of the scientific health f i e l d : the socio-anthropological dimension and the epistemological dimension. As a pre l i m i n a ry semantic fra m ew o rk , he adopts the following definitions in English and h i c h , despite their limitations, can be used as a point of depart u re for this undert a k i n g ,g i ven the dialectical and multidimensional nature of the disease-illness-sickness complex (DIS). Se c o n d , he presents and evaluates some underlying socio-anthro p o l o g i c a l theories of disease, taking advantage of the opportunity to highlight the semeiologic treatment of health-disease through the theory of "s i g n s , m e a n i n g s , and health pra c t i c e s". T h i rd , he analyze s s e ve ral epistemological issues relating to the Health theme, seeking to justify its status as a scientific object. Fi n a l l y, the author focuses the discussion on a proposal to systematize various health concepts as an initial stage for the theoretical construction of the Collective Health field. Key word s Epidemiologic Mo d e l s ;T h e o retical Mo d e l s ; Epidemiologic Me t h o d s R e s u m o Com o objetivo de avaliar preliminarmente as condições de possibilidade de uma Te oria Ge ral da Saúde, ex p l o ra-se duas das mais importantes dimensões estruturantes do campo científico da saúde: a dimensão sócio-antropológica e a dimensão epistemológica. Como marcação semântica pre l i m i n a r, p ropõe-se uma fixação de sentido em Po rtuguês para duas séries s i g n i f i c a n t e s : d i s e a s e = patologia, d i s o rd e r = tra n s t o r n o, i l l n e s s = enfermidade, s i c k n e s s = d o e n ç a , m a l a d y = moléstia. In i c i a l m e n t e , discute-se algumas teorias sociológicas e concepções biomédicas de saúde-doença que, não obstante suas limitações, sem dúvida poderão ser tomadas como ponto de partida para este esforço, dado o caráter dialético e multidimensional do Comp l exo D-E-P (doença-enfermidade-patologia). Em segundo lugar, algumas abordagens sócio-a n t ropológicas art i c u l a d o ras de teorias de doença são apresentadas e ava l i a d a s , a p rove i t a n d o - P a l a v r a s -c h a v e Modelos Ep i d e m i o l ó g i c o s ; Modelos Te ó r i c o s ; Métodos Ep i d e m i o l ó g i c o s

»Dude, How Much Health Do You Have Left?«

“…Many diseases in digital roleplaying games work within this framework and intensify biomedicalized subjectification. Health and disease -the normal and the pathological -define one another (Canguilhem 1978;Briceño-León 2001;Haverkamp, Bovenkerk, and Verweij 2018), and so it should come as no surprise that diseases in digital games operationalize the same masculine rationality. Within a biomedical apparatus, we no longer typically define health as the absence of disease, but instead fixate on individual's capacities to self-regulate, adapt, and self-govern (Huber et al 2011;Rail and Jette 2015).…”

Krankheit in Digitalen Spielen

“…Many diseases in digital roleplaying games work within this framework and intensify biomedicalized subjectification. Health and disease -the normal and the pathological -define one another (Canguilhem 1978;Briceño-León 2001;Haverkamp, Bovenkerk, and Verweij 2018), and so it should come as no surprise that diseases in digital games operationalize the same masculine rationality. Within a biomedical apparatus, we no longer typically define health as the absence of disease, but instead fixate on individual's capacities to self-regulate, adapt, and self-govern (Huber et al 2011;Rail and Jette 2015).…”