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Related Experiment Videos

Renewing Medicine's basic concepts: on ambiguity.

Joel Michael Reynolds1

  • 1Rice Family Fellow in Bioethics and the Humanities, The Hastings Center, 21 Malcolm Gordon Road, Garrison, NY, 10524-4125, USA. reynoldsj@thehastingscenter.org.

Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine : PEHM
|July 6, 2018
PubMed
Summary
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This paper argues that embracing ambiguity is crucial for modern medicine. By examining disability studies, it shows how ambiguity enhances medical practice and philosophical understanding.

Area of Science:

  • Philosophy of Medicine
  • Medical Ethics
  • Disability Studies

Background:

  • Pellegrino called for a re-evaluation of core medical concepts like health and disease.
  • Industrialized Western culture has questioned medicine's fundamental means and ends.
  • This paper addresses Pellegrino's call for renewed reflection on medical concepts.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose ambiguity as a guiding concept in scientific and clinical medical practice.
  • To re-examine basic medical concepts through the lens of ambiguity.
  • To integrate insights from disability studies into the philosophy of medicine.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical analysis of concepts in the philosophy of medicine.
  • Examination of critiques from disability studies regarding the concept of normality.
Keywords:
AmbiguityBIIDDeafnessDisability studiesEdmund PellegrinoNormalityPatient-provider communicationPhilosophy of disabilityPhilosophy of medicine

Related Experiment Videos

  • Case studies including Deafness and Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID).

    • Main Results:

    • Experiences of disability challenge the notion of universal truths in medical knowledge.
    • The concept of normality is shown to be ambiguously constructed.
    • Disability studies highlight the importance of situated and context-dependent knowledge.

    Conclusions:

    • Medical practice and its philosophy must embrace ambiguity.
    • Ambiguity is essential for upholding medicine's epistemic authority and melioristic goals.
    • A deeper understanding of medicine requires recognizing the centrality of ambiguity.