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How to make real, constructive, progress in medicine
Author(s) -
Simon Jeremy R.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01714.x
Subject(s) - constructive , realism , constructivism (international relations) , epistemology , metaphysics , engineering ethics , medicine , philosophy , computer science , political science , law , engineering , process (computing) , international relations , politics , operating system
Rationale One's understanding of medical progress – what it is, how it is pursued and how it is assessed – may be deeply dependent on one's understanding of the metaphysics of medicine, and of diseases in particular. Aims and Objectives In this paper I present a new account of the nature of diseases, neither realist nor constructivist, and describe what progress in medicine looks like if we understand diseases in this way. Conclusions This new account, Constructive Realism, may provide a better account of medicine than either realism or constructivism.