Unit information: The Philosophy and History of Medicine in 2022/23

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	Dr. Grose
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	None
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	None
Units you may not take alongside this one	None
School/department	Department of Philosophy
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Unit Information

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:

• How medical knowledge has developed in the last 200 years.
• How to think critically about current medical practices.

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:

• What is disease? And what is health? Are these biological concepts? Or do they have a subjective or a social component?
• How did the introduction of mass hospitals in the late eighteenth century transform the relationship between doctor and patient, and with what result on the doctor’s means of diagnosis on the one hand and opportunities for expanding medical knowledge on the other? (We look here at Michel Foucault’s notion of ‘the clinical gaze’.)
• Did medical science lead directly to improvements in medical care? Or were the two unrelated until the late nineteenth century before which time doctors did more harm than good?
• Was there a laboratory revolution in nineteenth century medicine? What difference did the microbiological discoveries of Pasteur, Koch, and others really make to medicine?
• How can generic medical knowledge produced by randomised controlled trials be applied to the diagnosis and treatment of individuals? Does ‘evidence-based medicine’ enable scientific advances to extend to the GP’s surgery? Or does it allow a flawed methodology to trump the skill and experience of doctors in understanding individual patients?
• Do complementary and alternative medical practices encapsulate different modes of medical knowledge from scientific medicine? Or are they at best expensive placebos and at worst dangerous and discredit quack remedies?
• We are often told that studies show that environmental factor X causes disease Y, and then are told that this is contradicted by other studies. How do we determine causation in epidemiology?

Your learning on this unit

On successful completion of this unit, students should:

1. Have acquired knowledge and understanding of various key issues in central areas in the philosophy and history of medicine,
2. Be able to construct and analyze sophisticated philosophical arguments and engage with other philosophers in constructive debate. Be able to communicate ideas clearly and effectively to an audience, using blackboard, handouts, data projection (e.g. PowerPoint).

How you will learn

Lectures, small group work, individual exercises, seminars and virtual learning environment.

How you will be assessed

Summative Assessment: One essay of up to 6,000 words (excluding bibliography) - 100%

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. PHILM0022).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.