The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Medicine

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Medicine is a guide to areas of current activity and change, not only in philosophy of medicine, but also in medical science and practice. It asks questions that concern core problems for this discipline as well as metaphysical questions about the nature of health and truth in medicine, offering critical insights into the evolving landscape of medical thought.

This handbook reflects a renewed awareness that medical traditions are culturally diverse and of the philosophical opportunities this creates. It presents important new work on the demarcation of medicine from rivals and the legitimacy of its claims to superiority, while offering a balanced perspective on both the strengths and limitations of biomedicine. The volume explores how to promote better medicine and critically examines the preference in public policy for treatment over prevention, providing nuanced insights into enhancing healthcare practices.
Social justice has emerged in contemporary philosophy of medicine as a major concern, and the scholars who have contributed to this volume approach the complex relationship between medical knowledge and action from multiple angles. Medical contexts where race appears--or fails to appear--are covered, as well as concerns regarding gender and models of disability in medicine. Contributors also identify central problems in the uses of artificial intelligence and statistics in medicine, as well as the impact of recent attacks on medical experts from movements such as evidence-based medicine (EBM) and "too much medicine" (TMM).

Every chapter in this book seeks to move in two dimensions: to change philosophy, and to change medicine, with many contributors advocating thoughtful reform. This illustrates the paradoxical value of the applied turn in philosophy, which is that, when properly executed, it produces better philosophy. The potential for philosophy of medicine to contribute to medicine is very clear in these chapters, but so is its potential to contribute to philosophy--which is at its best when it seeks to influence something other than itself.