Abstract
About this talk
The areas of holistic treatment, alternative medicine, and natural therapies are sometimes described as “fringe science” or pseudoscience. Their practitioners and supporters may even be described as “anti-science”. Nothing could be further from the truth. We explore the concept of science from a historical and philosophical perspective, comparing establishment medicine to alternative medicine. We find that alternative medicine has held its own, but that establishment medicine may be guilty of the type of superstitious behavior of which it accuses alternative medicine. Alternative medicine is not only consistent with natural philosophy and a truly scientific worldview; it is often far more humane, less materialistic, less alienating, and more respectful of individual and cultural autonomy.
Speaker