The identity and mereology of pathological dispositions

International audienceDiseases, risks of pathological processes and predispositions have been formalized as dispositions. The relations between those pathological dispositions, however, remain unclear. We apply here a recently developed theory of mereology and identity among dispositions to analyze such relations. In particular, we show how a framework for the identity of dispositions leads to a disease being realized not only by its disease course but also by each of its pathological process; how it avoids risk multiplicativism; and how a predisposition can be identified with a risk whose estimated probability is higher than the probability of the risk for a reference class. We discuss how this makes a predisposition always relative to a reference class, to a time-frame and to sources of risk estimates; and we clarify the nature of risk factors

The identity and mereology of pathological dispositions

International audienceDiseases, risks of pathological processes and predispositions have been formalized as dispositions. The relations between those pathological dispositions, however, remain unclear. We apply here a recently developed theory of mereology and identity among dispositions to analyze such relations. In particular, we show how a framework for the identity of dispositions leads to a disease being realized not only by its disease course but also by each of its pathological process; how it avoids risk multiplicativism; and how a predisposition can be identified with a risk whose estimated probability is higher than the probability of the risk for a reference class. We discuss how this makes a predisposition always relative to a reference class, to a time-frame and to sources of risk estimates; and we clarify the nature of risk factors