Health Capital and its Significance for Health Justice

Davies, Ben and Schramme, Thomas ORCID: 0000-0001-6319-6635 (2025) Health Capital and its Significance for Health Justice PUBLIC HEALTH ETHICS, 18 (1). phaf001-. ISSN 1754-9973, 1754-9981

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Abstract

This paper outlines a novel framing of the normative significance of health by considering the idea of ‘health capital’. Health capital is a set of health-related assets of individuals that enable them to pursue their interests and to collaborate with others. The specific contribution of this paper is to establish the notion of health capital beyond a metaphorical idea and to initially explore the repercussions of it for theories of health justice. We propose a sufficientarian approach to health capital justice. Our theory claims that social justice requires enabling people to achieve enough health capital to meet threats to health. This is a dynamic ideal, establishing claims of justice over time. The overarching goal is to avoid disadvantageous tipping points of health depletion.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	5003 Philosophy, 50 Philosophy and Religious Studies, Generic health relevance, 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of the Arts
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	11 Feb 2025 10:16
Last Modified:	23 May 2026 09:46
DOI:	10.1093/phe/phaf001
Open Access URL:	https://academic.oup.com/phe/article/18/1/phaf001/...
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3190238
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