The philosophy of medicine is the applied philosophy that examines issues of theory, research and practice in medicine and the medical sciences, mainly by assessing their claims to knowledge and their claims of explanation. By examining the concepts that underlie medical practice, it provides some foundation to bioethics, and by way of debates on causation and scientific explanation it has contributed to the philosophy of science. Although even ancient physicians such as Hippocrates engaged with some philosophy of medicine, thorough scholarship on its central questions is most recognizable since the 1800s; by the late 2010s the field had gained appreciable autonomy and recognition, with dedicated courses, journals, books, textbooks and professional organizations of its own.
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Central QuestionSourced to the subject's own accountWhat are the grounds for medicine's claims to knowledge and to genuine explanation of health and disease? 1 Key DebateSourced to the subject's own accountWhether placebos, understood as pharmacologically inactive interventions, can nonetheless cause genuine physiological effects, and what that possibility implies for the mind-body relationship in medicine. 1 Key DebateSourced to the subject's own accountWhether the hierarchy of evidence used in evidence based medicine, which ranks clinical research methods by evidential weight with randomized controlled trials at the top, is a legitimate way to rank methodologies; Jeremy Howick has offered a critical defense of the hierarchy while most philosophers who have examined it have questioned its legitimacy. 1 Philosophy of Medicine
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Source Philosophy of Medicine (Wikipedia)
Source Philosophy of Medicine (Wikipedia)
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Source Wikipedia: Alexander Bird
Source Wikipedia: Elselijn Kingma
Source Wikipedia: Rachel Ankeny
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1. Philosophy of Medicine (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section
The philosophy of medicine is the applied philosophy that examines issues of theory, research, and practice in medicine and medical sciences, mainly by assessing their claims to knowledge and claims of explanation.
Placebo section
Placebos and placebo effects have generated years of conceptual confusion about what kinds of thing they are.
Evidence-based medicine section
While Jeremy Howick provides a critical defense of EBM, most philosophers have raised questions about its legitimacy.
View the Source Wikipedia: Alexander Bird
Includes: Alexander Bird, Infobox: main_interestsQuote, Includes: Alexander Bird, Infobox: main_interests
Philosophy of science, philosophy of medicine, metaphysics, epistemology
Wikipedia: Rachel Ankeny
WikipediaIncludes: Rachel Ankeny, Infobox: main_interestsQuote, Includes: Rachel Ankeny, Infobox: main_interests
Philosophy of Biological & Biomedical Sciences Philosophy of Science Philosophy of Medicine Bioethics Food & Agricultural Ethics
Wikipedia: Elselijn Kingma
WikipediaIncludes: Elselijn Kingma, Infobox: main_interestsQuote, Includes: Elselijn Kingma, Infobox: main_interests
Philosophy of medicine, Ontology of pregnancy
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