Science, Medicine, and the Aims of Inquiry - A Philosophical Analysis

"Amid criticism of medicine's scientific rigor and patient care, this book offers a philosophical examination of the nature and aims of medicine, and new perspectives on how these challenges can be addressed. It offers input for rethinking the agenda of medical research, healthcare delivery, and the education of healthcare personnel"--

List of contents

Introduction: medicine at the crossroads; 1. Challenges to medicine at the end of ITS 'golden Age'; 2. Toward a normative philosophy of medicine; 3. Science and the nature of medicine: the systematicity thesis; 4. Inquiry in medical science: the understanding thesis; 5. Understanding in medicine; 6. The aim of medicine I: the autonomy thesis; 7. The aim of medicine II: current Alternatives; 8. Rethinking the challenges: the Moderate Position; Conclusion: disorientation and the 'greatest benefit to mankind'; References; Index.

About the author

Somogy Varga is Professor of Philosophy at Aarhus University, Director of the Center for Philosophy and the Health Sciences, and Visiting Research Professor at Ruhr University Bochum. He is the author of Scaffolded Minds (2019), Naturalism, Interpretation and Mental Disorder (2015), and Authenticity as an Ethical Ideal (2011).

Product details

• Authors: Somogy Varga
• Publisher: Cambridge Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 31.07.2025
• EAN: 9781009450027
• ISBN: 978-1-009-45002-7
• Illustrations: Worked examples or Exercises
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Natural sciences (general); Medicine: general issues, SCIENCE / Philosophy & Social Aspects, Philosophy of Science, History of Medicine, Ethics and moral philosophy, Forensic Medicine