Science versus Pseudoscience in medicine

Alireza Monajemi, MD-PhDDepartment of philosophy of science

IHCS

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Demarcation problem in Philosophy of science

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Demarcation

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Paradigm shift in demarcation problem in health issues

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• Those who practice medicine must also wrestle with the question ‘what is science?’ when they decide whether to use a particular diagnostic test, drug, or therapy.

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• It almost goes without saying that a great deal hinges on the distinction between scientific and unscientific medicine, since medical decisions have direct, immediate, and significant effects on human health and well being.

• ‘Good’ medicine can save lives, but ‘bad’ medicine can kill.

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• In medicine, the demarcation problem often boils down to finding a way

• to distinguish between ‘scientific medicine’ and ‘alternative medicine’ (Angell and

• Kassirer, 1998

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• Depending on how you view it, alternative medicine could be classified as

• ‘junk science’,• ‘fringe science’, • ‘weak science’, • or ‘pseudo science’.

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Pragmatic approach to demarcation

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• Although there has been considerable debate about whether the practice of medicine is a science or an art, most clinicians and theorists agree that science plays an important role in medical practice (Little, 1995).

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Medicine is not equal to

applied biology!

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Science and medicine

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Claim

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Claim

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