Arguments of proponents and critics of a disease concept of alcoholism are reviewed. It is concluded that the disease concept of alcoholism is in accord with modern usage of the concept of disease in the philosophy of science and the practic of biomedical science. Ascription of the term "disease" involves a value judgment by experts that observed lawfully recurring signs and symptoms are a significant deviation from a norm of standard of health. Value judgments of this and other kinds are inherent in biobehavioral science and its application. Criticisms of the traditional conception of the disease concept fail to distinguish empirical questions of etiology, treatment, and the characteristic features of alcoholism form the conventional and evaluative nature of the classification "disease". A critical review of the empirical research purporting to question the signs and symptoms of loss of control in alcoholics is also provided.
Abstract