Holism and Reductdonism as Paradigms of Medicine

Contemporary medicine as a science and art of healing constitutes a significant portion of theoretical knowledge and practical human skill. In the historical and philosophical Perspective it can be viewed as based on two prevailing and mutually complementary paradigms - holistic and reductionist. The first stems from a pragmatism oriented therapy, the latter is based on the technological aspect of medical science. Holism is related to the model of the world as an organism, reductionism is a consequence of the world-is-a-mechanism approach. In the first the responsibility of a doctor is to restore, prevent and promote health, in the other his chief ambition is to explore and specialize in ever smaller portions of human body and health. It seems that the task for the medicine of the future - a science both natural and humanistic in nature - would be to elaborate a system of healthcare that secures free progress of medicine but has human in the center of its concern.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 dofinansowane zostało ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę