Addiction and Its Ambiguities: Some Comments from History

Gemma Blok*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

In their rich paper, Mary Jean Walker and Wendy Rogers state that addiction is a ‘paradigmatic borderline case’, its disease status having been contested for at least several centuries. Is addiction a sin, an individual weakness, or a brain disease? Is it caused by the substance, by the individual’s vulnerability and psychology, or by social factors? As historians have demonstrated, ideas about addiction have changed significantly over time (Acker 2002; Carstairs 2006; Courtwright 2001). Walker and Rogers’ conceptualization of the vague cluster approach of disease is very helpful in explaining addiction’s contested status. First of all, addiction is a “vague” condition where the difference between health and disease is a matter of degree. Moreover, criteria that we might use to speak of a disease in spite of this vagueness, are not easily applied to addiction.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationA Pragmatic Approach to Conceptualization of Health and Disease
EditorsMaartje Schermer, Nicholas Binney
PublisherSpringer
Chapter16
Pages217-221
Number of pages5
ISBN (Electronic)9783031622410
ISBN (Print)9783031622403
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Publication series

SeriesPhilosophy and Medicine
Volume151
ISSN0376-7418

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