First published in 1990 Philosophical Foundations of Health Education analyses the dogmatism of conventional medicine as a form of scientism and tries to determine the extent to which the state of health education has been perverted by an uncritical acceptance of these dogmas. It discusses themes like the genesis of reductionist medical science; scientism in medicine and the crisis in health care; integrating the philosophical foundations of holistic health education; holistic understanding of health and disease; evolution of primary health care; the demystification of medicine; and conscientization and health for all, to suggest that holism is an integral part of the philosophy of health which allows personal and societal needs to be realized in a global context. This book is a must read for students and scholars of philosophy of medicine, medical sociology, and philosophy of education.

Ronald S. Laura and Sandra Heaney