Abstract

On top of elaborate methods and approaches in research, diagnostics, and therapy, medicine is in need of a theory of its own thought and action; without theoretical reflection and referentiality, action becomes blind (and thus costly) and thought takes on a monotonous and circular character. Take the concept of health. The field of medicine, more and more taking its cues from evidence-based medicine (EBM), is onesidedly oriented to concepts of health which are based on notions of standard values for large populations or—in the shadow of the genome project—see health as the outcome of an intact genome, often turning a blind eye to the individual aspects of health. With an eye in particular to Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy, the present paper looks into some continental European theories of individual health, seeking to determine to what extent they can contribute to reducing medicine's theory deficit and what consequences this may have for research, diagnostics, and therapy.