Boundaries between Orthodox Medicine and Alternative Medicine

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K21422
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Sociology/History of science and technology; History of Europe and America
• Research Institution: Meiji University
• Principal Investigator: Kurosaki Shuichi 明治大学, 文学部, 兼任講師 (10772246)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: イギリス史 / 西洋史 / 医学史 / 境界設定

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, I examine the formation of scientific medicine in Victorian Britain with particular reference to the conflicts between homoeopathy and orthodox medicine. To clarify the definition of scientific medicine, orthodox physicians expelled homoeopathic practitioners from hospitals, medical journals and societies. Furthermore, criticising the dogmatism of homoeopathy, they labelled it as ‘medical heresy’. However, there was persistent opposition to this exclusion even among orthodox physicians.Many people thought that clarifying the boundaries would harm the project of making medicine scientific.
It is certain that there was fierce competition between homoeopathy and orthodox medicine. However, the demarcation lines between them were not the only issues. For the purpose of making medicine scientific, doctors in Victorian Britain had to express a degree of tolerance of homoeopathy. This study will be published in summer 2019.

Free Research Field

近代イギリス医学史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

近年，世界中で隆盛を極める代替医療に対しては，これを科学的な医療の実現の障害とみなし，「根拠に基づく医療（EBM）」の基準に照らして淘汰しようとする動きが活発である。しかしその一方で，そもそも科学的な医療とは何か，科学とは何かという，より根本的な議論が置き去りにされているという指摘もある。そこで本研究は，正統医学と代替医療の境界線の構築をめぐる歴史的な経緯を明らかにすることで，この科学的な医療とは何かという問題への理解を深める一助となることを目指した。