An analysis of Haack's account of the ideal of logical rigor with medical decision-making as an illustration

Abstract

There is a hiatus between theoretical and practical knowledge. One may know very well what it means to do something but fail to do it. The seemingly existing gap between philosophy and medical practice results in many misconceptions of these two fields of human inquiry. Medical practitioners tend to sideline philosophy – seeing it as a lower arts subject. On the other hand, philosophers tend to look at the art of medical practice as a distant subject. When philosophers try to engage in medical debates, it is usually only limited to medical ethics. However, philosophy and medicine ought to complement each other towards a holistic approach to promoting human life. This paper seeks so investigate the relevance of philosophy to clinical decision-making. Philosophy is a broad field of inquiry. As a result, the inquiry is methodically narrowed down to one aspect of philosophy – logic. Of what use is the logic in clinical decision-making processes? To be more specific, can logicians contribute towards better decisions and conclusions in medical practice? I argue that logic is an essential tool in the contemporary society that is highly technological. Logic has not been static over the centuries. Logic has evolved from the classical era to the present contemporary era. The first chapter takes the multi-valued approach of fuzzy logic and applies it into clinical decision-making. It should be argued that artificial intelligence (AI) is helping in clinical decision-making. However, knowledge engineers need the medical expert in coding algorithms into the machines. On the same note, the human expert is at the heart of interpretation and usage of data. In spite of the usefulness of AI expert systems, not every physician has access to such technologies – especially in rural areas of African developing countries. Equipping the medical practitioner with tools of logical rigor and precision helps in clinical decision-making. As a result, the second chapter of this dissertation will outline the scope of logic. Susan Haack is the main scholar l have utilized to trace logical evolution. This