Explanatory integration and integrated explanations in Darwinian medicine and evolutionary medicine

Abstract: Recently, two research traditions that bring together evolutionary biology and medicine, that is to say, Darwinian medicine and evolutionary medicine, have been identified. In this paper, I analyse these two research traditions with respect to explanatory and interdisciplinary integration. My analysis shows that Darwinian medicine does not integrate medicine and evolutionary biology in any strong sense but does incorporate evolutionary concepts into medicine. I also show that backward-looking explanations in Darwinian medicine are not integrated proximate-and-ultimate explanations but functional explanations that include reference to evolutionary concepts. Nevertheless, explanations in Darwinian medicine have heuristic roles as they potentially contribute to conceptual change and tie pieces of knowledge from different fields of medical research together. I argue that Darwinian medicine is an “interfield” that fosters cross-disciplinary exchange between evolutionary biologists and medical researchers and practitioners based on division of labour and separation, rather than unity. Research in evolutionary medicine, on the other hand, happens at the intersection of evolutionary biology and medicine where the two disciplines are already integrated and is designed to produce entangled proximate-evolutionary explanations. My analysis thus adds another important aspect to the philosophical discussion on the distinction between Darwinian medicine and evolutionary medicine

Standort
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
Umfang
Online-Ressource
Sprache
Englisch
Anmerkungen
Theoretical medicine and bioethics. - 44, 1 (2023) , 1-20, ISSN: 1573-1200

Klassifikation
Medizin, Gesundheit

Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wo)
Freiburg
(wer)
Universität
(wann)
2022
Urheber
Kranke, Nina

DOI
10.1007/s11017-022-09594-z
URN
urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-2320206
Rechteinformation
Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
Letzte Aktualisierung
25.03.2025, 13:44 MEZ

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Beteiligte

  • Kranke, Nina
  • Universität

Entstanden

  • 2022

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