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Holism reconsidered

A reply to Täljedahl

Department of Health and Society, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden, Correspondence address: Lennart Nordenfelt Department of Health and Society Linköping University SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden.

In his article Weak and Strong Holism, Inge-Bert Täljedahl criticises some modern theories of health which define health without reference to disease. As an alternative he suggests a kind of theory called Strong holism which emphasises the lawful interrelations between all ontological layers in the human being. In this reply it is argued (1) that Taljedahl does not accurately describe the contents and intentions of the criticised theories and (2) that he does not put forward any alternative theory of health. Strong holism, as characterised by Täljedahl, is a general biological and social-biological research programme, which is very fruitful for scientific research projects, but which does not suggest any particular theory of health.

Key Words: philosophy of health • medical concepts • disease • medical research programmes • holistic health

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 25, No. 4, 243-245 (1997)
DOI: 10.1177/140349489702500404


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