Center for Philosophy of Science Visiting Fellow Conference
Abstract: The evidence-based medicine (EBM) movement began in the 1980s, reached its peak perhaps in the 1990s, and since then has enjoyed the status of orthodoxy, despite many criticisms being raised among medical practitioners and researchers. Philosophers of medicine have frequently criticized EBM’s hierarchies and rigid precepts, especially the “gold standard” status of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
A pluralistic approach to evidence in medicine, in which mechanistic evidence and reasoning, observational studies of many kinds, and RCTs are assessed for value on a case-by-case basis, has become increasingly popular in recent years. But does this trend away from the EBM hierarchy go too far and risk the reintroduction of the same biased, motivated evidence-gathering practices that originally motivated the EBM movement? What light can recent experiences in medicine and public health (e.g., during the Covid-19 pandemic) shed on these issues?
Call for abstracts due November 17
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Sponsored by the Center for Philosophy of Science