261022 Philosophy of Medicine (S) (SoSe 2016)

This course provides an introduction to the central themes in the philosophy of medicine. The aim is to discuss ontological, epistemological, and ethical questions that arise when medical research is conducted and applied to clinical decision-making. The course comprises three parts. In the first part, we shall discuss the concepts of health and disease, examine the problems of causation and explanation, and consider the meaning of placebo. The second part focuses on the practice of medicine and medical research. We shall begin with examining different methods of producing medical knowledge and analyzing their epistemic strengths and weaknesses. The central questions of evidence-based medicine are discussed. The problem of alternative medicine is introduced. The part ends with an introduction to questions related to diagnosis. The part three of the course concerns the relationship between medicine and society: We shall ask how to secure the public’s trust in medical research and how to safeguard the objectivity of medical knowledge. Questions of risks in medicine and the relevance of discussing race and gender in the context of medicine are considered. The course ends with a short introduction to medical ethics.

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