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Medicine as combining natural and human science.
1Philosophy Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-2390, USA. dreyfus@berkeley.edu
The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy
|September 6, 2011
Summary
Medicine integrates natural and human sciences, requiring a clear distinction for effective practice. Understanding the body involves realist scientific discovery and interpretive humanistic understanding.
Area of Science:
- Philosophy of Medicine
- Epistemology
- Medical Humanities
Background:
- Medicine uniquely combines natural and human sciences, necessitating a clear epistemological distinction.
- The historical division between Geisteswissenschaften (human sciences) and Naturwissenschaften (natural sciences) remains relevant for medical practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To update the distinction between natural and human sciences in the context of medicine.
- To defend the essential differences between scientific explanation of nature and interpretive understanding of human practices.
Main Methods:
- Philosophical analysis of scientific and humanistic approaches.
- Drawing upon Charles Taylor's arguments on hermeneutics and self-interpreting agents.
Main Results:
- A realist, explanatory approach is suitable for studying nature, including the human body, to discover causal properties.
- An interpretive, hermeneutic approach is essential for understanding human beings as embodied, self-interpreting agents.
Conclusions:
- Effective medical practice requires acknowledging and integrating both realist natural science and interpretive human science.
- The distinction between discovering causal properties of natural kinds and understanding self-interpreting human practices is crucial in medicine.
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