Unit name | The Philosophy and History of Medicine |
---|---|
Unit code | PHILM0022 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Professor. Bertram |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Philosophy |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit concerns some of the key elements of the philosophy of medicine in their historical context. It focuses particularly on the philosophy of medicine in through the ages: Greek medical thinking, Galenic theories of the Renaissance, the upheavals of the 19th Century; and contemporary debate on holism and reductionism. Additionally it looks, at the putative relationships of soul, mind, emotion, brain and illness. Given the scope of this field, teaching will largely be through specific case studies and topics, such as the Hippocratic Oath, the "Four Elements", the emergence of the medical profession in the 19th Century, medical logic, the limits of statisitical inference and the insights of complexity theory. There will be a lecture and a seminar in each of the twelve weeks of the teaching block.
This unit aims to give students an understanding of:
Unit objectives:
If you get ill, you are very lucky you live now rather than 200 years ago, when simple infections would often prove fatal, surgery was carried out without pain relief, and almost all illnesses were treated with blood letting and medicines based on the poisons mercury and antimony. It might appear that current medicine magnificently demonstrates the triumph of applied science. But the truth of this claim is in fact far from obvious. This unit examines some of the philosophical questions arising from the history of the making of modern medicine, from the new hospitals of the French Revolution, through the so-called laboratory revolution of the late-nineteenth century and the golden era of twentieth century medicine to the AIDS pandemic and the growth of the alternative medicine movement. Questions addressed include:
On successful completion of this unit, students should:
Lectures, small group work, individual exercises, seminars and virtual learning environment.
Summative Assessment: One essay of up to 6,000 words (excluding bibliography) - 100%
The following books are strongly recommended background reading to the history of medicine and the historiography of medicine: ASS= Arts and Social Science Library. MED= Medical Library (down University Walk)
Burnham, J. C. (2005) What is Medical History? (Cambridge: Polity) (978-0745632254).
Also recommended but controversial are:
The best recent book on philosophy of medicine is:
Some other recommended books on the history of medicine are:
Online resources
Medical Humanities: New York University’s Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Main?action=new eJournals: Medical Humanities; Journal of Medical Humanities
History of Medicine: eJournals (available through UoB information services): Medical History; Social History of Medicine; Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences; Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
UoB Medical Library: http://www.bris.ac.uk/is/library/subjects/medfac/info/internetlinks.html
Wellcome Library: http://library.wellcome.ac.uk
Wellcome Medical Photographical Library: https://wellcomeimages.org
History of the Health Sciences World Wide Web Links: http://www.mla-hhss.org/histlink.htm
National Library of Medicine (US): http://www.nlm.nih.gov
MedHist: http://www.intute.ac.uk/healthandlifesciences/medhist
Philosophy of Medicine eJournals: Journal of Medicine and Philosophy; Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics; Medicine, Healthcare and Philosophy; Philosophy, Ethics and Humanities in Medicine