The next set of readings will focus on philosophy of public health. As previously, each week there will be two online meetings of the group to discuss the same section of text, one on Wednesday night at 5pm BST, one on Thursday morning at 10am BST, in hopes of accommodating group members in a variety of time zones. There is no need to attend all meetings—please come when you can.

You can join the group here: https://groups.google.com/g/philmed-rg/

If you need the meeting links or have any other queries please contact Alex Broadbent or Elisabetta Lalumera.

Block 1

Week 1 — Wed 6 May / Thu 7 May

Grote, T. & Broadbent, A. (2023)
Machine Learning and Public Health: Philosophical Issues.
In S. Venkatapuram & A. Broadbent (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Public Health, pp. 190-204. Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315675411-16

Week 2 — Wed 20 May / Thu 21 May

Steel, D. (2022)
Medicine and Public Health.
In The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Public Health, pp. 27–39. Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315675411

Week 3 — Wed 3 June / Thu 4 June

Smart, B. (2025)
The Goal of Public Health (Chapter 2, pp. 29–50).
In The Philosophy of Public Health: A Capacities Approach. Springer.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-98804-2_2

Week 4 — Wed 17 June / Thu 18 June

Smart, B. (2025)
Towards a Capacities-Based Principlism (Chapter 6, pp. 141–169).
In The Philosophy of Public Health: A Capacities Approach. Springer.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-98804-2_6

Week 5 — Wed 1 July / Thu 2 July

Venkatapuram, S. (2025)
Social Determinants of Health.
In The Handbook of the Philosophy of Medicine. Springer.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-2252-8_72

Block 2

Week 6 — Wed 30 September / Thu 1 October

Kukla, Q. R. (2024)
Healthism, Elite Capture, and the Pitfalls of an Expansive Concept of Health.
In A Pragmatic Approach to Conceptualization of Health and Disease, pp. 275–294. Springer.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-62241-0_21

Week 7 — Wed 14 October / Thu 15 October

Wilson, J. (2021)
The Right to Public Health (Chapter 6, pp. 110–125).
In Philosophy for Public Health and Public Policy: Beyond the Neglectful State. Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192844057.003.0006

Week 8 — Wed 28 October / Thu 29 October

Wilson, J. (2021)
Measuring and Combatting Health-Related Inequalities (Chapter 9, pp. 184–204).
In Philosophy for Public Health and Public Policy: Beyond the Neglectful State. Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192844057.003.0009