What Society May Claim: Public Health

This brief chapter describes concepts that will be used as a basis to explain and justify claims by the state for itself, and for society beyond the family. Public health is a collective good that focuses on disease prevention, is consequentialist in its outlook, and frequently involves use of state power. In a liberal democracy, health must usually be defined relatively narrowly, as prevention of disease, rather than used as a broad concept to justify massive social engineering. Optimizing health is a public good and a common good; it benefits all, and requires the cooperation of all. As such, it requires a degree of societal solidarity that has been notably absent, for example, in the United States during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Free riding must be minimized. Harm reduction as a means of mitigating harmful behavior is discussed as a public health strategy.