Upcoming Event: TedX lecture Haarlem

TedX Lecture HaarlemA fish called… Ignaas

Preventive research and total body scans: this is the new national obsession. Are we healthy? Many people feel unhealthy until proven otherwise. The Belgian philosopher Ignaas Devisch (1970) is alarmed by this development. He has decisive views about how we should structure health care!

He asks questions such as “where does health end and are we simply dealing with the personal will for a better life?” With a massive focus on perfect health, it seems we need more and more reassurance to dare to feel healthy. In fact, we are so obsessed with our health that we are making ourselves sick. He will talk about his last book called 'Sick of Health' in which he confronts us with the idea why so many people worry about their health while they are healthy.

Ignaas is professor in Ethics, Philosophy and Medical Philosophy. He holds positions at Ghent University and University College Arteveldehogeschool, Belgium and was research fellow for five years at the Radboud University Nijmegen.

He is chairman of a Belgian organisation de Maakbare Mens which reflects ethically and philosophically upon biomedical evolutions. As a philosopher, he works at the faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine. Since 2003, he teaches philosophy of medicine, social philosophy, ethics and bio-ethics.