Care And Cure

The philosophy of medicine has become a vibrant and complex intellectual landscape, and Care and Cure is the first extended attempt to map it. In pursuing the interdependent aims of caring and curing, medicine relies on concepts, theories, inferences, and policies that are often complicated and controversial. Bringing much-needed clarity to the interplay of these diverse problems, Jacob Stegenga describes the core philosophical controversies underlying medicine in this unrivaled introduction to the field. The fourteen chapters in Care and Cure present and discuss conceptual, metaphysical, epistemological, and political questions that arise in medicine, buttressed with lively illustrative examples ranging from debates over the true nature of disease to the effectiveness of medical interventions and homeopathy. Poised to be the standard sourcebook for anyone seeking a comprehensive overview of the canonical concepts, current state, and cutting edge of this vital field, this concise introduction will be an indispensable resource for students and scholars of medicine and philosophy.

A rigorous, skeptical, deeply reported look at the new science behind the mind's surprising ability to heal the body. Have you ever felt a surge of adrenaline after narrowly avoiding an accident? Salivated at the sight (or thought) of a sour lemon? Felt turned on just from hearing your partner's voice? If so, then you've experienced how dramatically the workings of your mind can affect your body. Yet while we accept that stress or anxiety can damage our health, the idea of "healing thoughts" was long ago hijacked by New Age gurus and spiritual healers. Recently, however, serious scientists from a range of fields have been uncovering evidence that our thoughts, emotions and beliefs can ease pain, heal wounds, fend off infection and heart disease and even slow the progression of AIDS and some cancers. In Cure, award-winning science writer Jo Marchant travels the world to meet the physicians, patients and researchers on the cutting edge of this new world of medicine. We learn how meditation protects against depression and dementia, how social connections increase life expectancy and how patients who feel cared for recover from surgery faster. We meet Iraq war veterans who are using a virtual arctic world to treat their burns and children whose ADHD is kept under control with half the normal dose of medication. We watch as a transplant patient uses the smell of lavender to calm his hostile immune system and an Olympic runner shaves vital seconds off his time through mind-power alone. Drawing on the very latest research, Marchant explores the vast potential of the mind's ability to heal, lays out its limitations and explains how we can make use of the findings in our own lives. With clarity and compassion, Cure points the way towards a system of medicine that treats us not simply as bodies but as human beings. A New York Times Bestseller Finalist for the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize Longlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize

Philosophy of Medicine asks two central questions about medicine: what is it, and what should we think of it? Philosophy of medicine itself has evolved in response to developments in the philosophy of science, especially with regard to epistemology, positioning it to make contributions that are medically useful. This book locates these developments within a larger framework, suggesting that much philosophical thinking about medicine contributes to answering one or both of these two guiding questions. Taking stock of philosophy of medicine's present place in the landscape and its potential to illuminate a wide range of areas, from public health to policy, Alex Broadbent introduces various key topics in the philosophy of medicine. The first part of the book argues for a novel view of the nature of medicine, arguing that medicine should be understood as an inquiry into the nature and causes of health and disease. Medicine excels at achieving understanding, but not at translating this understanding into cure, a frustration that has dogged the history of medicine and continues to the present day. The second part of the book explores how we ought to consider medicine. Contemporary responses, such as evidence-based medicine and medical nihilism, tend to respond by fixing high standards of evidence. Broadbent rejects these approaches in favor of Medical Cosmopolitanism, or a rejection of epistemic relativism and pluralism about medicine that encourages conversations between medical traditions. From this standpoint, Broadbent opens the way to embracing alternative medicine. An accessible and user-friendly guide, Philosophy of Medicine puts these different debates into perspective and identifies areas that demand further exploration.

The author of Medical Nihilism examines the philosophical complications and controversies underlying medicine. The philosophy of medicine has become a vibrant and complex intellectual landscape, and Care and Cure is the first extended attempt to map it. In pursuing the interdependent aims of caring and curing, medicine relies on concepts, theories, inferences, and policies that are often complicated and controversial. Bringing much-needed clarity to the interplay of these diverse problems, Jacob Stegenga describes the core philosophical controversies underlying medicine in this unrivaled introduction to the field. The fourteen chapters in Care and Cure present and discuss conceptual, metaphysical, epistemological, and political questions that arise in medicine, buttressed with lively illustrative examples ranging from debates over the true nature of disease to the effectiveness of medical interventions and homeopathy. Poised to be the standard sourcebook for anyone seeking a comprehensive overview of the canonical concepts, current state, and cutting edge of this vital field, this concise introduction will be an indispensable resource for students and scholars of medicine and philosophy. Praise for Care & Cure “An exceptionally clear, accessible, and organized introduction to key concepts and central debates in the philosophy of medicine. There is as yet no single-author, comprehensive introduction to this new field. Stegenga’s excellent book fills this lacuna.” —Anya Plutynski, Department of Philosophy, Washington University in St. Louis, author of Explaining Cancer: Finding Order in Disorder “Care and Cure cogently argues that while scholarship on ethics and the practice of medicine are in plenitude, there is a dearth of scholarship grappling with a host of other philosophical questions and issues concerning medicine as a discipline. A balanced overview.” —Mark H. Waymack, Department of Philosophy, Loyola University Chicago “As an introductory text in the philosophy of medicine, Care and Cure offers a comprehensive overview of the field which is accessible to beginners in philosophy. Notably for a philosophical book on medicine, it is not a work in medical ethics, but in applied philosophy of science. Well-written and well-structured, Stegenga’s book is a very welcome addition to the philosophy of medicine literature.” —Hane Maung, Department of Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester

This book is a precious gift that anyone can be happy to receive, have, read, and empower themselves with beneficial knowledge to be healthy and stay healthy as long as possible. To be healthy makes no distinction in religion, race, color, creed, power, well-being, social status or how famous and talented you are or what political party you choose. What’s in this book makes no distinction about your choice of love, romance, and type of family, work, career, business, and sexual preference. The goal of this book is to be happy, healthy, live a prosperous life, get along with each other, and tolerate each other, smile, and laugh, say hi, hello, look at each other, and do much more with each other. Once in a while, take time ask yourself, who am I? Why am I here on this earth at this time in this century with all these other people? You can say to yourself, I could’ve been born in another century with all the other people. But I am here in this century with all the other people with you and me. Let us be healthy, love each other, and live longer.

A bold look at how commercial agendas distort the real science behind health and fitness studies and misinform the public about how to live a healthy life. Researcher Timothy Caulfield talks with experts in medicine, pharmaceuticals, health and fitness, and even tries out many of the health fads himself, in order to test their scientific validity, dispel the myths, and illuminate the path to better health.