Breakfast meeting: Philosophical Perspectives on Physical Activity and Medicine

We probably should know what we mean by the human body, since the body is the main object and focus of medicine. Every researcher trying to understand physical activity will have a particular take on what a body is and, consequently, what physical activity is. Last I checked, most colleagues in medicine will have a variation of what we can call the body-as-machine perspective. From this perspective, the goal of medicine is to understand the human machine, what is needed to maintain it (eat healthy, be physically active) and how to repair it when it is broken.

In this, perhaps a bit provocative, breakfast presentation, I critically examine this traditional yet common perspective on the body and discuss some possible alternatives and questions that invite further reflection. I will identify several potential “blindspots” in both the theory and practice of medicine. We will thereby touch upon important related aspects such as sense of agency, socio-cultural perspectives, “nytte vs. egenverdi”, and causality.

Innovation sometimes requires us to pause and reflect on what we normally take for granted. In this session, Team Physical Activity invites you to join the dialogue and to reflect together on the theoretical foundations of physical activity and medicine as well as discuss the challenges and possibilities that follow from different ways of understanding the human body.

This breakfast meeting is organised by Team Physical Activity, a team under the strategic research area NTNU Health and Life Science.