 An alternative approach to defining disease and health has been described by Marc Ereshefsky (2009) in terms of making distinct state descriptions (descriptions of physiological or psychological states while avoiding any claims about naturalness, functionality, or normality), and normative claims (explicit judgments about whether we value or disvalue a particular physiological or psychological state). This approach has the advantages of allowing more clarity about controversial “disease” conditions as it avoids the need to apply the term explicitly. It also forces us to pinpoint the key issues that matter to understanding and treating someone suffering from ill health. But perhaps most persuasively, he argues that this approach allows us to distinguish the current state of a human from those we wish to promote or diminish, whereas the terms “disease” and “health” do not adequately highlight this critical distinction.