Normal e patológico: leituras contemporâneas

Abstract

The objective of this dissertation is to investigate contemporary conceptual theories of the normal and the pathological in medicine. After Georges Canguilhem s celebrated text on the theme, Anglo-Saxon philosophy of medicine added important contributions to the debate above all in the 70s. We look foremost at Christopher Boorse and Lennart Nordenfelt s writing. These authors shared Canguilhem s conviction that philosophical analysis can contribute to the clarification of medical concepts. A dichotomy presented in contemporary Anglo-Saxon literature about health and illness as natural phenomena or states determined by anthropomorphic values, divides them between naturalistic or normative. In order to distinguish normal from pathological, contemporary naturalist authors use criteria of biological functioning and biological types. Normative authors speak of social function and ideal types. We question these concepts using the frameworks of philosophy of biology and deficiency studies, respectively, and we conclude that definitions proposed by philosophers of medicine need to be refined.