ABSTRACT
The Medical model of health is negative, like a mirage, as it represents an absence of disease. It is founded on the self-regulating mechanism of homeostasis that challenges pathogenesis and maintains physiological processes in a steady state. The principle of homeostatic equilibrium underpinned biological theory and grounded medical advances in the twentieth century. Homeostasis is at the heart and soul of modern medicine and has been extraordinarily successful in advancing new treatments and research. Contemporary medical practitioners rely on the principle of homeostasis because it enables them to interpret various laboratory tests. They can regard deviations from established biochemical norms as a failure of homeostasis indicating pathology. The limitation of H. G. Gadamer’s emphasis on ‘healthy equilibrium’ is apparent in Serious Fun experiences. The medical paradigm of health is a mirage unless it includes Aaron Antonovsky’s vision. For Antonovsky, health was not just an absence of disease, but a force for living that he called salutogenesis.
