RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Disease, illness, sickness, health, healing and wholeness: exploring some elusive concepts JF Medical Humanities JO J Med Humanit FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics SP 9 OP 17 DO 10.1136/mh.26.1.9 VO 26 IS 1 A1 Kenneth M Boyd YR 2000 UL http://mh.bmj.com/content/26/1/9.abstract AB Concepts such as disease and health can be difficult to define precisely. Part of the reason for this is that they embody value judgments and are rooted in metaphor. The precise meaning of terms like health, healing and wholeness is likely to remain elusive, because the disconcerting openness of the outlook gained from experience alone resists the reduction of first-person judgments (including those of religion) to third-person explanations (including those of science).