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How to make real, constructive, progress in medicine
Article first published online: 11 AUG 2011
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01714.x
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Additional Information
How to Cite
Simon, J. R. (2011), How to make real, constructive, progress in medicine. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 17: 847–851. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01714.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 23 SEP 2011
- Article first published online: 11 AUG 2011
- Accepted for publication: 14 June 2011
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Keywords:
- constructive realism;
- cystic fibrosis;
- disease;
- medicine;
- metaphysics;
- ontology;
- philosophy;
- progress
Abstract
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.