Handbook of the Philosophy of Medicine

This is the first comprehensive, multi-author textbook in the philosophy of medicine, covering the conceptual problems of many important social, political and ethical issues in health care. It introduces and develops over 70 topics, concepts and issues in the field. It is written by eminent specialists from many disciplines, including philosophy, health sciences, nursing, sociology, political theory and medicine. Many of the difficult social and ethical issues in healthcare are based on conceptual problems, primarily definitions of health and illness or epistemological issues of causality or diagnosis. Philosophy is a discipline that deals with such conceptual, metaphysical, epistemological, methodological and axiological issues. This textbook covers all the major concepts of medicine, such as ageing, death, disease, mental disorders and wellbeing. It is an invaluable resource for the layperson, academics with an interest in medicine and healthcare professionals who want to be informed and up-to-date with relevant discussions.