title: New approaches within the history and theory of medicine and their relevance for homeopathy.
abstract: Conventional sciences have brought forth a wealth of knowledge and benefits, but they have not always been clear and precise about their legitimate scope and methodological limitations. In contrast, new and critical approaches in modern sciences question and reflect their own presuppositions, dependencies, and constraints. Examples are quantum physics, theory and history of science, as well as theory and history of medicine, sociology, and economics. In this way, deprecative dogmatism and animosity amongst sciences ought to be lessened, while the field opens up for each science to redefine its appropriate place in society. This would appear to be a chance for homeopathy, as new approaches, especially within the social and economic sciences, suggest that being a follower of Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) may have advantages and privileges that conventional medicine seems to be lacking and whose relevance was overlooked during the rise of economic thinking in the last two centuries.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ethics, History, and Theory of Medicine, University of Munich, Germany. Electronic address: j.m.schmidt@lrz.uni-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: Josef M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000266:history*; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006705:Homeopathy / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D010686:Philosophy, Medical / Q000266:history*
keywords: History of Economics; History of medicine; Homeopathy; Samuel Hahnemann; Social sciences; Theory of medicine