If not evidence, then what? Or does medicine really need a base?
This essay analyses the concept of ' base' in relation to its use in evidence-based medicine (EBM). It evaluates the extent to which evidence provides a sufficient base for health care to rest and discusses whether medicine needs a base, and, if so, what are the other possible candidates. This paper will argue that EBM is linked epistemologically to the theory of foundationalism and shows how important criticisms of EBM emerge from anti-foundationalist epistemologies and interpretive frameworks. Drawing from recent writings in the philosophy of science, it is argued that there is a need to see multiple perspectives relevant to the practice and understanding of medicine.
Primary Care Unit, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre. rupshur@idirect.com
Ross E G
RE
Upshur
D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D010686:Philosophy, Medical