Rethinking Health and Illness in Heidegger
Abstract
The contemporary philosophical interpretations of disease and illness can be classified into two dominant camps: naturalism and normativism. Influential as they are, both approaches overlook the lived, first-person experience of being ill. Against this backdrop, this paper develops a phenomenological account of health and illness grounded in Heidegger’s existential philosophy in an attempt to overcome the “inhuman” defect of the two mainstream approaches. Drawing on Heidegger’s philosophy, the paper interprets illness as an unhomely mode of existence in which the body ceases to be a transparent medium of engagement and becomes an obstacle to one’s projects. This account offers a richer understanding of human vulnerability and suggests a more patient-centered orientation for clinical practice. Yet the Heideggerian framework faces limits. It offers no clear threshold for illness and neglects the social, cultural, and normative dimensions of illness. This paper concludes that a comprehensive understanding of health and illness requires integrating phenomenological insight with empirical and ethical reflection in order to combine ontology and clinical care.
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