Charla: Arantza Etxeberria Agiriano

New Section

The speaker introduces the topic of COVID-19 from a philosophical perspective, emphasizing the importance of health and disease concepts.

Philosophical Perspective on COVID-19

• The talk focuses on exploring COVID-19 issues through the lens of philosophy, biology, and medicine.

• Discusses the need to refine thoughts about health and disease in the context of COVID-19 pandemics, highlighting the role of values and normative evaluations.

• Explores how individual and collective levels intersect in understanding health and disease, emphasizing a global perspective that includes community, society, and nature.

• Health and disease are attributed to organisms; emphasizes the centrality of individual organisms in philosophy of biology and medicine to overcome reductionist approaches.

• Concepts such as holobionts, functional organization, and living organization play crucial roles in defining health or disease at an individual level.

Exploring Organism-Environment Relationship

Delving into George Canguilhem's perspectives on organism-environment relationships shaping health and disease concepts.

George Canguilhem's Perspectives

• Canguilhem views organisms as relational beings interconnected with their environment; emphasizes the dynamic relationship between parts within an organism.

• Highlights the importance of considering living organization as a regulation of parts within an organism in relation to its environment for assessing health or disease.

Environmental Influence on Organisms

Emphasizing the significant impact of environmental factors on biological constitution in understanding health and disease dynamics.

Environmental Influence

• Acknowledges the critical role of environmental influence in biology and medicine today, stressing interconnectedness between individuals' biological constitution and their environment.

Understanding Pandemics: SARS-CoV-2

Exploring perceptions around viruses like SARS-CoV-2 during pandemics like COVID-19.

Insights on Viruses

What Viruses Are and Their Impact on Society

The discussion delves into the evolving perceptions of viruses over the past few decades, highlighting their role in infectious diseases and societal implications.

Evolution of Views on Viruses

• Viruses were previously viewed as solely harmful genetic information wrapped in proteins.

• Recent decades have seen a shift towards a more neutral view of viruses, recognizing them as significant actors in evolution.

Virus Classification and Research

• Despite being crucial for evolution, viruses are primarily classified based on associated pathologies rather than evolutionary relationships.

• The classification of viruses remains a subject of ongoing research due to their diverse nature.

Infectious Diseases and Social Relations

• Infectious diseases emerged around 12,000 years ago with sedentary lifestyles, agriculture, and close contact with animals.

• Social conditions play a pivotal role in the spread of infectious diseases, emphasizing the interconnectedness between health and social structures.

The Interplay Between Science, Social Conditions, and Disease

This segment explores how social factors influence disease transmission and highlights the necessity of integrating social sciences into medical approaches.

Role of Social Factors in Disease Transmission

• Measures to combat diseases often involve social restrictions and isolation due to environmental exposure risks.

• Diseases are inherently linked to social conditions, necessitating a holistic approach that includes social sciences alongside biological disciplines.

Influence of Social Environment on Health

• Social conditions significantly impact individual health outcomes through complex feedback loops.

Infectious Diseases and Global Health

The discussion revolves around the impact of infectious diseases versus human-made diseases on mortality rates, transitions in medicine, the return of known and new diseases due to globalization, and the need for a paradigm shift in understanding health and disease.

Infectious Diseases vs. Human-Made Diseases

• Harper and Armelagos highlight that mortality is primarily caused by human-made diseases like smoking and overeating.

Transitions in Medicine

• Mention of a third transition in medicine characterized by the resurgence of both infectious and lifestyle-related diseases due to globalization and rapid expansion.

Criticism of Disease Eradication Notion

• Criticism from some quarters, such as lebians, against viewing diseases as eradicated entities, emphasizing the importance of maintaining optimism in medical endeavors.

Unintended Consequences of Combatting Microbes

• The battle against microbes has led to unintended consequences like antibiotic resistance and immune system disorders.

Rethinking Relationships with Microbes

• Advocacy for viewing viruses not just as threats but also as allies in co-development, stressing the crucial role viruses play in evolution and multicellular biology.

Role of Microbes in Health & Disease

This section delves into anthropological perspectives on living with microbes, redefining health evaluations concerning individual organisms' relationships with their environment.

Paradigms of Living Together

• Anthropologists like Charlotte Brief emphasize exploring paradigms for coexistence with microbes to understand their role vis-a-vis individual organisms.

Evaluating Health & Disease

• Highlighting the need for biology and philosophy to redefine entities considered for health evaluations, stressing an ecological dimension due to habitat destruction's link to zoonoses.

Ecological Perspective on Health & Disease

Emphasizing the interconnectedness between health, disease, social relations, environmental factors, advocating for a holistic approach beyond individual-centric views.

Ecological Dimension of Disease

• Stressing that disease origins are not solely attributed to viruses but also changes in social relations necessitating a broader perspective when addressing illnesses.

Reversing Ecological Damage

• Acknowledging anthropologists' emphasis on reversing ecological damage caused by habitat destruction through loss of biodiversity linked to zoonoses outbreaks.

Expanding Concepts of Health & Disease

Proposing an extension from individual-focused concepts towards global entities encompassing social and environmental aspects within medical frameworks.

Global Entities Approach