Scientific Philosophy and Principles in Medicine

Basic knowledge and information are acquired through the language in the family, society and education, which should be based on philosophy and logical principles. In the field of medicine, a dialog can be established between the doctor and the patient for diagnosis with linguistic (verbal, oral) information exchange rather than mathematical expressions. This chapter presents rational thinking with logical principles, preferably combining the basic principles of philosophy in medicine with the treatment of uncertainty, the results of which are presented according to the usual bivalent (crisp, two-value) logic. The necessary and effective structural steps of rational use of language are presented based on verbal knowledge and uncertainties in information production. It is emphasized that innovative ideas, procedures and methods are possible through research and development activities, if the language, philosophy, and logic principles are observed for the most reasonable cases, even with approximate decisions.

Thoughts are the triggering arrogance of rational thinking to explore possible relationships among different procedures that lead to reasonably acceptable results. To this end, in this chapter, different thinking procedures are clearly explained based on the principles of proportional inference and interpretation that lead to acceptable and ultimately useful generations of knowledge, even though they may contain an element of uncertainty at the current level of scientific knowledge. The basic questions that are valid today and will be valid in the future throughout the history of science are “How?” and “Why?” A series of suggestions are given to find answers to these questions. Especially in medical sciences, the principles of mind (brain)-heart communication are explained for the production of linguistically comfortable and acceptable information. A series of suggestions are made about ways to find answers to these questions from thinkers in different cultural civilizations, which are the basic elements of the history of science. Finally, examples from the history of science are given in detail for the development of verbal knowledge developments.

The history of medicine shows that medical sciences are historically intertwined with different civilizations according to advice on linguistical forms and written books. The first medical treatments were based on superstitions that had been overturned by principles of rationality for the past 2500 years. For example, several medical treatments were based on amulets, totem symbols and tattoos, originally thought to drive away evil spirits from the sick body. The history of medicine offers visions of the evolution of medical treatments. In this chapter, all civilizations and their leading medical philosophers and recommendations are coherently explained in a harmonious manner so that the reader can understand centuries of valid and invalid disease treatment procedures and better alternatives.

Terminological concepts are the most important aspects of scientific research and development activities, as this book briefly provides epistemological content about the fundamentals of medicine. In scientific literature, the terminology is a combination of single or complex terms in the form of keywords that provide the first impression about an event. Medical terminology and phrases help professionals understand each other without much discussion. Information and knowledge are generally hidden in the etymological and epistemological concepts, such as words, sentences, definitions, terms, terminology and their current scientific structures. Advances in knowledge exchange and improvement processes are the results of conceptualization and terminological applications, especially as a paradigm shift in medicine. Linguistic data, which is a widely used communication tool in medical sciences, contain imprecision and ambiguity. These uncertainties can be minimized by making terminological agreements among experts.

In this chapter, cases of free and unlimited thinking on philosophical grounds are explained more, and there is a close connection between philosophy and medicine. In addition, the philosophy of medicine and the ways of understanding the concepts of philosophy are explained with an emphasis on its possible relationship with medicine, especially bioethics. There are always unknowns about the disease and health, and it has been explained that no matter how much the philosophical principles try to come up with approximate rational solutions, they always remain in uncertainty, albeit marginally. It is stated that the philosophy of medicine is a branch of philosophy that explores issues in theory, research and practice in the field of health sciences. Before any explanation, from the very beginning, the etymological and epistemological features of “philosophy” and “science” help the reader to grasp the contents of this book. A set of recommendations are given in the form of systematic information to a thinker to provide dynamism towards more productive and generative directions.

This chapter aims to provide a physician with the foundation and principles of philosophy in medicine for freer and independent thinking. In previous chapters, a sub-branch of the philosophy of medicine related to epistemological concepts and metaphysical implications was highlighted, including ethical and even moral principles. The philosophy of medicine is a blend of medical education and training with philosophical aspects to achieve improvements and innovative findings for public health services. The philosophy of medicine includes the contra-active interactions of diseases, health and the search for effective reciprocity. By asking questions about how medical and health professionals know what to do, and detailed information is given in terms of practical medical wisdom. How should they make the right and wise decisions in morally complex and uncertain situations? And what is the patient’s role in this decision-making process? In medical practice and research, it is recommended to start problem-solving with philosophical thinking and then logical evaluations in order to reveal a better diagnosis, treatment and healing qualities for patient care.

The main information in this chapter is about logic, which helps to reach more rational and productive thoughts and ideas about an event involving medical sciences. In general, after the philosophical thinking principles, the logical rules lead to inferences that are more rational, and therefore, knowledge becomes more applicable. Logical words and propositions are explained on bivalent (crisp) and fuzzy logical rule-based expressions. Logic plays a very crucial role in the medical sciences, based on sound reasoning. Mathematics based on binary logical principles is useful in science, but fuzzy logic principles and rules play a central role with extreme predominance in medical science because communication between doctor and patient takes place linguistically before laboratory analysis for some numerical data.

This chapter presents the principles of uncertainty, imprecision, vagueness, incomplete and random data types, treatments and diagnostics principles in medicine. For example, a disease can manifest quite differently from a patient, doctor and social perspective. It is stated that knowledge-based medical treatment decision support systems will develop further with fuzzy logic evaluation due to uncertainty involvement. This chapter offers a series of recommendations on aspects of uncertainty in the medical sciences. The comparison of fuzzy and bivalent (crisp) logic and the fuzzy logic preference in medicine are explained with evidence. Fuzzy logic inference modeling with medical vague words is presented on a sample with four inputs (temperature, blood pressure, urine quality and heart rate), for diagnosing disease as an output estimate. Finally, the use of fuzzy logic in medicine is explained by a set of diseases classifications.

The main concern of this chapter is to explain the use of probabilistic and statistical numerical dataset analysis in medical sciences, leading to computer graphics, tabular classifications and representations. These treatment procedures support medical professionals to advance their linguistic knowledge of a disease with numerical and visual results. Fuzzy and bivalent logic comparisons are presented for pulse rate, heart rate, and blood pressure based on age-related tables, which are used to elicit graphical and mathematical equivalents. Probabilistic and statistical assessment methods are explained in detail with some numerical data. In such quantitative assessments and methodological applications, the importance of assumptions is recommended as a significant warning and necessary guidance. The most frequently used regression methodology to determine relationships between two or more medical variables is explained with mathematical and graphical representations. Finally, the relationship between medicine and mathematics is explained.

The main theme of this chapter is to supplement medical examinations with biomedical means, which is only possible with mutual collaboration between doctors and engineers. The principles of science and technology-based tools are explained by engineering design concepts and software possibilities, which are supportive aids for medical diagnosis. Various sections of this chapter provide a linguistic explanation of the engineering related medical issues followed by a logical explanation of mathematical expression derivations through various models based on a set of assumptions. In the explanations, bivalent and fuzzy logic principles are used according to the problem at hand. Population growth, food sharing, injection, diabetics, dialysis, epidemics, sensitive hearing intake, blood circulation, etc. problems are modeled using a set of convenient mathematical methodologies. Human engineering concepts are discussed from the medical point of view. Finally, a set of recommendations are given for possible future directions to arrive at better innovation.