Biomedical Reductionist, Humanist, and Biopsychosocial Models in Medicine

Abstract

In this chapter, three basic approaches to medicine are examined. The biological reductionistic model is criticized commonly but it is found to have important merits. The biopsychosocial (BPS) model is praised commonly but it is found to have many limitations. The BPS model is seen as representing eclecticism, which in turn represents a relativism about truth which is part of current cultural mores. Both perspectives are examined in the context of the history of medicine, where two basic tendencies are identified: the Galenic and Hippocratic approaches. The Galenic approach is based on biological speculation and is holistic and individualized to the patient. It held sway for most of recorded human history but caused much suffering through its false ideology. The Hippocratic approach is parroted but little understood: it is based on clinical observation, refusal to treat symptoms, and a commitment to identifying diseases. It is biologically reductionistic but humanistic. The evolution of modern medical breakthroughs, such as the antibiotic revolution, is seen as reflecting a rejection of Galenic models for Hippocratic ones. The BPS model is seen as a return to Galenic assumptions. A medical humanist model for the future, based on Hippocratic foundations and revised by awareness of the strengths and limitations of biological reductionism, is proposed.