Epistemological reflections on the art of medicine and narrative medicine.
This article challenges the widespread view that there is both a science and an art of medicine. Through examination of recent work in medical humanities --Jodi Halpern's From Detached Concern to Empathy (2001), Kathryn Montgomery's How Doctors Think (2006), and Rita Charon's Narrative Medicine (2006)--I argue that while a variety of epistemic techniques are important in medicine, it is not helpful to dichotomize them as "science" versus "art." I assess the epistemic strengths and weaknesses of narrative medicine, a recent exemplar of humanistic medicine.
Solomon
Miriam
M
Department of Philosophy, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. msolomon@temple.edu
D004645:Empathy; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006808:Humanism; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D008511:Medicine; D033262:Narration; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D010819:Physician's Role; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics; D012586:Science / Q000941:ethics