This volume covers a wide range of conceptual, epistemological and methodological issues in the philosophy of science that have arisen from reflection on medical science and practice. Several chapters discuss such general meta-scientific concepts as discovery, reduction, theories and models, causal inference and scientific realism as they relate specifically to medicine or medical science. Some discuss important concepts specific to medicine (diagnosis, health, disease, brain death). For example, a topic such as evidence is explored at different levels, from social mechanisms to guide evidence-based reasoning, such as evidence-based medicine, consensus conferences and clinical trials, to the more abstract analysis of experiments, inference and uncertainty. Some chapters are devoted to specific areas of medicine, including psychiatry. The publications cover a wide range of detailed cases from medical science and practice, as well as a wide range of intellectual approaches, from conceptual analysis to detailed examination of individual scientific articles or historical episodes.
