THE METAPHYSICAL ROOTS OF PHYSICAL INACTIVITY AND OBESITY IN LATE-CAPITALISM Toward a Better Understanding of Major Health Problems through the Application of Process Philosophy Glenn McLaren Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy – 2004 Department of Philosophy and Cultural Inquiry School of Social and Behavioural Sciences Swinburne University of Technology Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia Physical inactivity and obesity in late – capitalism ii ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to comprehend the nature of an emergent major public health problem in Western developed societies; the increase in levels of physical inactivity and obesity. The position taken is that this problem is related to the defective ways of thinking underpinning the current period of late-capitalism. Supporting this position is a complex, philosophical argument that links multiple disciplines and levels of understanding within the human spatio-temporal domain. It is argued that such linking is only possible from a broader metaphysical perspective that examines underlying assumptions related to concepts of primary existence. The framework for this examination is an ongoing dialectic between two competing metaphysical traditions of thought, mechanistic materialism and process thought. Process metaphysics is put forward as a secular basis for re-integrating the human spatio-temporal domain left fragmented and nihilistic from centuries of dominance of the defective tradition of mechanistic materialism. It is this fragmentation and nihilism that has created the conditions for the problem of physical inactivity and obesity to emerge. This emergence is understood to be an aspect of the decaying process of a hegemonic culture that values extremes and is devoid of the ability to imagine alternatives. Drawing on the process tradition, and in particular the writings of contemporary philosophers coupled with less commonly studied older works, a more imaginative and encompassing definition of health, as compared with that enabled by the mechanistic materialist world-view, is conceived and developed. This is then contrasted with the way health is considered by those seeking to address public health issues. Through this approach, the key to the emergence and development of the physical inactivity and obesity problem is revealed in the beliefs and practices of those deemed to have the legitimacy to address it. It is suggested that this problem will not be adequately understood or addressed unless there is a major cultural change from one based in mechanistic materialism to one that is process based. Physical inactivity and obesity in late – capitalism iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work is an eddy in a stream of discovery. It began with my ignorant frustration, developed over two decades working in the Fitness Industry, with my Industry’s ineffectiveness in stemming the tide of physical inactivity. It pauses briefly here with a relatively more enlightened and informed reflection on the nature of my frustration, the scope of which I could not possibly have imagined in the beginning. My enlightenment I can attribute mostly to all those staff and fellow students who have made my university experience so fruitful. Primarily, my thanks must go to my supervisor and inspiration, Dr. Arran Gare. Without his original insights and synthesis as well as his continual encouragement and support for my research, I would never have achieved the level of understanding I now have. Much of this work interprets Dr. Gare’s body of work that I believe should underpin the way forward for the next generation of process thinkers. Thanks Arran for your friendship and for the many hours of your time you gave generously to guide my development. My thanks also go to Dr. Michael Dix and Dr. Paul Healy, the rest of the small but outstanding philosophy department at Swinburne, Michael, in particular, for his rigour, his interest, his friendship, and for playing the part of the analytical philosopher. My thanks must also go to Swinburne University in general and all the staff who have assisted me and allowed me the luxury of reflection and theorizing. Special thanks go to the Joseph Needham Centre for Complex Processes Research, my colleagues in Akademos and the process community in general for continually generating great ideas and providing a space for presenting and discussing my ideas. Others I need to thank are Russell Renhard, for his insights on nutrition, primary health care and alternative therapies, and Darren Mozes for his input into strength training and the Fitness Industry. Thanks to all those in the Fitness Industry and Public Health field who I had discussions with. I must acknowledge that while I am highly critical of the Fitness Industry in this thesis, it has provided me with an interesting and often rewarding career, as well as many of my closest friends. Thanks to all of my family and friends who have both encouraged me and shown polite interest in my research. Thanks to my parents for their sense of social justice and their willingness to discuss any issue. Lastly, thanks to my partner Fiona and my daughter Brigitte. Fiona loves me, supports me and recognizes my work as being important, as I do hers. What better conditions could a human being have for thriving. It’s a cliché, but Brigitte continually reminds me how important it is to continually imagine a better world. Physical inactivity and obesity in late – capitalism iv DECLARATION I declare that this thesis: i. contains no material which has been accepted for the award to the candidate of any other degree or diploma, except where reference is made in the text of the thesis; ii. to the best of my knowledge, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis; and iii. where the work is based on joint research or publications, discloses the relative contributions of the respective workers or authors. ……………………………………………. Date: / / Glenn R. McLaren Physical inactivity and obesity in late – capitalism v CONTENTS Abstract…………………………………………………………………... p. ii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………. p. iii Declaration……………………………………………………………….. p. iv Contents………………………………………………………………….. p. v Introduction……………………………………………………………… p. 1 1. The Mechanistic Materialist Tradition and Health……………….. p. 22 2. The Emergence and Development of the Fitness Industry……….. p. 73 3. The Process Tradition: Its Foundations, Problems and p. 92 Metaphysical Categories…………………………………………….. 4. Process Metaphysics, Postmodern Science and Health…………… p. 154 5. Epistemological Implications of Process Metaphysics…………….. p. 180 6. Physical Inactivity, Obesity and Exercise Science………………… p. 225 7. Physical Inactivity, Obesity and Nutritional Science……………… p. 267 8. Physical Inactivity, Obesity and the Social Sciences………………. p. 299 9. Conclusion……………………………………………………………. p. 338 References p. 352 Physical inactivity and obesity in late – capitalism vi INTRODUCTION The aim of this thesis is to understand from a philosophical perspective, both the emergence and development of a major public health problem and the defective ways in which it is being addressed. It is argued that to understand the nature of this problem, it is necessary to examine the metaphysical assumptions underlying the ways in which it is being addressed, both in the public and private spheres. These deep assumptions, underpinning the methods for addressing the problem, are the key to understanding the emergence of the problem. First though, what is this problem? Since the 1970’s, the incidence of disease related to lack of physical activity has grown. According to the World Health Organization, the world has witnessed a significant increase in non-communicable diseases over this period such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, that it relates ‘…closely to respective changes in lifestyles mainly in tobacco use, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet.’1 This has grown to become what the World Health Organization regards as a global epidemic that now accounts for 60 percent of all deaths and 43 percent of the global burden of disease. They predict that this will rise by 2020 to 73 percent of all deaths and 60 percent of the global burden of disease. 2 They further advise that: Overall physical inactivity is estimated to cause 1.9 million deaths globally. Physical inactivity causes globally, about 10-16% of cases each of breast cancer, colon and rectal cancers and diabetes mellitus, and about 22% of ischaemic heart disease…A combination of improper diet, insufficient physical activity and tobacco use are estimated to be the cause of up to 80% of premature coronary heart disease…At the same time the level of overweight and obesity is rapidly growing worldwide, in developed and developing countries also among young people…While lack of food is a major issue in some segments 1 World Health Organization, ‘The Increasing Burden of Preventable Noncommunicable Diseases Worldwide’: Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Health Promotion: Physical Activity: World Health in Transition, (WHO 2003)<http://www.who.int/hpr/physactiv/world.health.shtml>, (9 September 2003) p. 1. 2 Ibid: p.1. Physical inactivity and obesity in late – capitalism 2 of society, data show that caloric excess, unbalanced diet, physical inactivity, obesity and the chronic diseases that they spawn are equally dangerous. The affected population with obesity has increased with epidemic proportions, with more than one billion