Tobacco Use: Approaching Dependence from an Ethics Perspective

Behaviors today, such as tobacco use, are considered risk factors for health. This presumed natural progression allows public health to establish obligations. In practice, practitioners do not necessarily examine the philosophical premises underlying policies, which raises ethical implications for cultural customization. Through tobacco as an applied example, the paper highlights such implications for Muslim communities and the necessary undertakings. In the public health discourse, normativity is shaped by naturalism. Disease is no longer strictly a function of body operations but also of behaviors, bringing the latter into the realm of naturalist scientific investigation. Tobacco control is an applied case in point. As for the Islamic discourse, while allowing for some naturalist knowledge, normativity derives from the guidance of Divine revelation for a good life. It is impairment, whether at the physical or the character level, that results in the inability to live the good life that is considered unhealthy and dysfunctional. With respect to tobacco, while the early works demonstrate this conception, contemporary works mostly “Islamize” arguments put forward in the public health discourse. Several undertakings are recommended to address this discord, both to better align tobacco control with the Islamic worldview as well as enrich global tobacco control efforts.

Cite this article as: Bader, R. K. (2023). Tobacco Use: Approaching Dependence from an Ethics Perspective. Addicta: The Turkish Journal on Addictions, 10(3), 253-258.