Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science, UGent-Ghent University, Gent, Belgium.
J Eval Clin Pract. 2011 Oct;17(5):852-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01715.x. Epub 2011 Aug 16.
The question what scientific progress means for a particular domain such as medicine seems importantly different from the question what scientific progress is in general. While the latter question received ample treatment in the philosophical literature, the former question is hardly discussed. I argue that it is nonetheless important to think about this question in view of the methodological choices we make. I raise specific questions that should be tackled regarding scientific progress in the medical sciences and demonstrate their importance by means of an analysis of what evidence-based medicine (EBM) has, and has not, to offer in terms of progress. I show how critically thinking about EBM from the point of view of progress can help us in putting EBM and its favoured methodologies in the right perspective. My conclusion will be that blindly favouring certain methods because of their immediately tangible short-term benefits implies that we parry the important question of how best to advance progress in the long run. This leads us to losing sight of our general goals in doing research in the medical sciences.
科学进步对于医学等特定领域意味着什么，这个问题似乎与科学进步的一般含义有很大的不同。虽然后一个问题在哲学文献中得到了充分的探讨，但前一个问题几乎没有被讨论过。我认为，鉴于我们所做的方法论选择，思考这个问题仍然很重要。我提出了一些在医学科学中应该解决的关于科学进步的具体问题，并通过分析循证医学（EBM）在进步方面的贡献和不足来说明这些问题的重要性。我展示了从进步的角度批判性地思考 EBM 如何帮助我们正确看待 EBM 及其偏爱的方法。我的结论是，仅仅因为某些方法具有直接的短期利益就盲目地支持它们，意味着我们回避了如何从长远来看最好地推进进步的重要问题。这导致我们忽视了我们在医学科学研究中的总体目标。
