Zalewski Z
Department of Philosophy of Medicine, Collegium Medicum of Jagiellonian University, Rynek Glowny 34, 31-010 Krakow, Poland.
Croat Med J. 1999 Mar;40(1):8-13.
Popular approach to the history of medicine rests on naive assumptions that: 1) only the present state of medical knowledge can be counted as scientific and only those elements of the former knowledge and practice which fitted the body of contemporary science should be regarded by the historians of medicine (presentism); 2) medical sciences, like the other natural sciences, portray natural phenomena as they really are (naturalism); 3) progress in sciences consists of cumulative growth of information and explanation. The twentieth century philosophical critique of science revealed that none of these assumptions were true. Empirical facts, which are taken as a basis for any true knowledge, are dependent on the presumed theories; theories are intertwined into a broader socio-cultural context; theory-changing processes are caused by social factors rather than by the theoretical content. Therefore, it is a common task of historians of medicine and philosophers of science to reveal all theoretical and cultural premises on which our comprehension of the contemporary medicine is founded.
1）只有当前的医学知识状态才能被视为科学，医学史家只应关注过去知识和实践中符合当代科学体系的那些元素（当下主义）；2）医学科学与其他自然科学一样，如实描绘自然现象（自然主义）；3）科学进步包括信息和解释的累积增长。20世纪对科学的哲学批判表明，这些假设没有一个是正确的。作为任何真正知识基础的经验事实依赖于假定的理论；理论与更广泛的社会文化背景相互交织；理论变革过程是由社会因素而非理论内容引起的。因此，揭示我们理解当代医学所基于的所有理论和文化前提，是医学史家与科学哲学家的共同任务。
