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    Boorse's biostatistical theory, the most rigorous attempt... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Efforts to improve traits that are at no diagnosable risk of deterioration are enhancements and thus medically suspect

    Boorse's biostatistical theory, the most rigorous attempt to naturalize this baseline, has been shown by Daniels and others to smuggle in covert normative judgments about species-typical functioning.

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    Reasons For

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    • 1.Boorse defines health via statistical typicality, but typicality itself reflects prior social choices about what counts as normal.
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    • 2.Daniels showed that even 'species-typical' functioning presupposes contestable judgments about which traits matter for human flourishing.
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    • 3.Biostatistical theory cannot distinguish between statistical frequency and normative desirability without importing external values.
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    Reasons Against

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    • 1.Boorse explicitly separates descriptive function from normative evaluation; the theory allows dysfunction without implying disease is bad.
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    • 2.All accounts of health—normative or naturalistic—must reference some baseline; calling this 'covert' assumes a false objectivity standard.
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    • 3.Species-typical functioning is empirically measurable without normative smuggling; identifying deviation requires no value judgment itself.
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    Key Terms

    Biostatistical theory(as the main framework being described)
    A philosophical explanation of health and disease based on how organisms typically function in their species, measured through statistical patterns rather than subjective feelings.
    Boorse(as the creator of biostatistical theory)
    Christopher Boorse is a philosopher who created a specific theory about what counts as a disease or health problem based on how well an organism's parts work according to biological facts.
    Covert normative judgments(as the criticism that Boorse's theory contains)
    Hidden value judgments or opinions about what *should* be the case—basically, sneaking in subjective ideas while pretending to stick to pure facts.
    Daniels(as one of the philosophers who criticized biostatistical theory)
    Norman Daniels is a philosopher who criticized Boorse's theory, arguing that it secretly contains value judgments hidden inside what looks like objective science.
    Naturalize(as used in philosophy of science)
    To explain something by showing how it fits into the natural world and how it works according to natural laws and processes, rather than treating it as something special or separate.
    Species-typical functioning(as Daniels's definition of what health care should aim to restore)
    The ability to do the things that are normal or expected for human beings—like walking, thinking, working, and socializing—without major physical or mental limitations.

    Connections

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    Bioethics1 linked

    Related

    All accounts of health—normative or naturalistic—must reference some baseline; c...Biostatistical theory cannot distinguish between statistical frequency and norma...Boorse defines health via statistical typicality, but typicality itself reflects...Boorse explicitly separates descriptive function from normative evaluation; the ...

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    Daniels showed that even 'species-typical' functioning presupposes contestable j...Efforts to improve traits that are at no diagnosable risk of deterioration are e...Species-typical functioning is empirically measurable without normative smugglin...