Knowing and Acting in Medicine

Robyn Bluhm is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Lyman Briggs College at Michigan State University. She is the co-editor of Neurofeminism: Issues at the Intersection of Feminist Theory and Cognitive Science (2012).

• Introduction / Robyn Bluhm / 1. Case-Based (Casuistic) Decision-Making Mark Tonelli / 2. Evidence-Based Medicine versus Expertise: knowledge, skills and epistemic actions Sophie van Baalen and Mieke Boon / 3. Phenomenology, Typification, and Ideal Types in Psychiatric Diagnosis and Classification Anthony Vincent Fernandez / 4. The Reproducibility of Epistemic Humility Abraham P. Schwab / 5. Reframing a Model – The Benefits and Challenges of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research: Tania Gergel and Thomas Kabir / 6: The Role of Patient Perspectives in Clinical Case Reporting Rachel A. Ankeny / 7. “The Science is Clear!” Media Uptake of Health Research into Vaccine Hesitancy Maya J. Goldenberg and Christopher McCron / 8: Values as ‘Evidence For’: Mental Illness, Medicine, and Policy Susan C. C. Hawthorne / 9. RCTs and EBM as Gold Standards: A Trojan Horse for Biomedicine? Keekok Lee / 10. The Legitimacy of preventive medical advice. Is knowing enough? Delphine Olivier / 11. Translational research and

The epistemology of medicine is a field of growing interest and importance. These 14 original essays explore the relationship between knowledge and action in medical practice, research, and policy. The collection identifies important challenges to the currently dominant paradigm, which holds up randomized clinical trials and evidence-based medicine as the gold standard for evaluating medical knowledge and practice. Essays examine such issues as the role that intuition and individual experience play in understanding and evaluating clinical reasoning, the proper role of humility in epistemic judgment, and how patients and the public understand and can contribute to medical knowledge. Although predominantly from the US, the contributors have a diverse range of national backgrounds (UK, Canada, France, Australia, Netherlands). Editor Bluhm (Lyman Briggs College, Michigan State Univ.) and most of the contributors are philosophers, but psychiatry, nursing, and medicine are also included. Clearly written and well presented, this volume makes a significant contribution to the field of medical epistemology…. [E]ach essay includes a valuable list of references for further research. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.