Inevitability, contingency, and epistemic humility

Kidd, Ian James

doi:10.1016/j.shpsa.2015.08.006

Cited by 36 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Over the last several decades, this concept has been applied to the use of science in clinical decision making . Arguments in this literature focus on the uncertainty inherent in the application of knowledge to complex patient care.…”

Section: Part Iii: Accounting For Complexity In Medical Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over the last several decades, this concept has been applied to the use of science in clinical decision making. 96,97 Arguments in this literature focus on the uncertainty inherent in the application of knowledge to complex patient care. Physicians are obliged to acknowledge this uncertainty in the ethical and intellectually rigorous care of patients.…”

Section: Approach 2: Teach and Model Epistemic Humilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Accounting for complexity in medical education: a model of adaptive behaviour in medicine

Woodruff

2019

Medical Education

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Context Medicine is practised in complex systems. Physicians engage in clinical and operational problems that are dynamic and lack full transparency. As a consequence, the behaviour of medical systems and diseases is often unpredictable. Medical science has equipped physicians with powerful tools to favourably impact health, but a reductionist approach alone is insufficient to optimally address the complex challenges posed by illness and public health. Concepts from complexity science, such as continuous quality improvement and teamwork, strive to fill the gap between biomedical knowledge and the realities of practice. However, the superficial treatment of these systems‐thinking concepts in medical education has distorted their implementation and undermined their impact. ‘Systems thinking’ has been conflated with ‘systematic thinking’; concepts which are adaptive in nature are being taught as standardised, reductionist tools. Methods Using concepts from complexity science, the history of science and psychology, this problem is outlined and a theoretical model of professional development is proposed. Results This model proposes that complex problem solving and adaptive behaviour, not technical expertise, are distinguishing features of professionalism. Discussion The impact of this model on our understanding of physician autonomy, professionalism, teamwork and continuous quality improvement is discussed. This model has significant implications for the structure and content of medical education. Strategies for enhancing medical training, including interventions in recruitment, the curriculum and evaluation, are reviewed. Such adjustments would prepare trainees to more effectively utilise biomedical knowledge and tools in the complex high‐stakes reality of medical practice.

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Section: Part Iii: Accounting For Complexity In Medical Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Approach 2: Teach and Model Epistemic Humilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Accounting for complexity in medical education: a model of adaptive behaviour in medicine

Woodruff

2019

Medical Education

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“…In Hacking's memorable phrase, the inevitabilist challenges the contingentist to "put up or shut up" (PUSU) (1999, 79, 89; 2000, 70). Only recently have authors -Soler (2015b) and Kidd (2016) -provided extended analysis of the PUSU demand. Both conclude that we should not worry about it.…”

Section: Shutting Up About Putting Upmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contingentism is saddled with the burden of proof, whist inevitabilism enjoys default-status. Several scholars have identified and deplored this state of affairs (Soler, 2015b;Kidd, 2016), and in section 2 I build upon their foundation, offering a range of arguments toward the conclusion that inevitabilism's default-status is unjustified. In section 3, I tackle the question of whether a default position can ever be justified.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Against defaultism and towards localism in the contingency/inevitability conversation: Or, why we should shut up about putting-up

Aylward

2019

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A

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Philosophers and historians of science have for some time now debated whether the results of current science are 'contingent' or 'inevitable'. Scholars have noted that inevitabilism often enjoys the status of a presumptive default position. Consequently, contingentists are, from the outset, lumbered with the burden of proof. This is evident in the case of the inevitabilist demand that the contingentist "put up or shut up" (PUSU). This paper adds to the existing case which says that inevitabilism's default-status is unjustified. However, whilst some have suggested that contingentism should replace inevitabilism as the default position, I argue that the contingency/inevitability (C/I) conversation should proceed sans default. This move is motivated largely by my claim that the C/I issue is best conceived as a 'local', rather than a global or universal one. The main problem with taking inevitabilism or contingentism as the default is the globalist nature of such a tack. Whilst localism is arguably an emergent reality of the growing C/I literature, its implications have not been fully realised. I suggest that fully and explicitly embracing localism, including the closely related move of doing away with defaults, represents the most promising way forward for the C/I conversation. In addition, I will show how these moves entail that we stop worrying about the inevitabilist PUSU demand, or more bluntly, that we shut up about putting-up. Keywords contingentism; inevitabilism; "put up or shut up"; defaultism; globalism; localism Joseph Martin's (2013) article, which purports to address a "lingering ambiguity in the way contingency is defined" (919), is one such contribution. In it, Martin proposes a taxonomy of contingency claims, organised according to "the things within science considered to be

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“…Anche se forse, su questo secondo, il Nostro sarebbe più ottimista: al fondo del suo argomentare vi è la fiducia nella possibilità, per l'uomo, di giungere a una filosofia vera e perenne, la quale precede il soggetto (nozione moderna, che ha segnato la svolta gnoseologica dopo Cartesio); fiducia che oggi è decisamente più sfumata. Pur non negando che dei principi incondizionati vi siano, oggi una sorta di umiltà epistemica (Matthews 2006;Ryan 2014;Kidd 2016) ci impone di essere più cauti circa la possibilità che tali principi conducano a un'unica filosofia\metafisica 74 . Il passaggio da idee semplici a idee complesse (come Dio, la sua esistenza, la creazione etc.…”

Section: Tra Hegel E Fenomenologia: Spunti Su Fede E Sapere E Sui Preunclassified

Lineamenti di cristeologia. «Fede critica» e umiltà epistemica: il rapporto ragione-fede al confine tra meta-teologia, metodologia e vita

Migliorini

2017

TheoLogica

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Il rapporto tra fede e ragione è la questione meta-teologica per eccellenza. L’autore si propone dunque d’indagare se il modello oggi prevalente di “ragione umile” – basato su fallibilismo e umiltà epistemica – sia il più adeguato per esprimere le verità teologiche, anche alla luce del dibattito interno al teismo contemporaneo (teologia razionale). Per rispondere a questa domanda è necessario esaminare lo statuto epistemologico della verità umana e della verità di fede, per poter elaborare un metodo comune alle discipline scientifiche, filosofiche e teologiche, capace di trovare un equilibrio tra fideismo e positivismo teologico. Dopo una breve panoramica storica dei rapporti tra fede e ragione nel pensiero occidentale (con particolare attenzione alla dottrina dei praeambula fidei), l’articolo cercherà di mostrare come, nel paradigma della verità relazionale e del fallibilismo sia necessario integrare il problema delle fonti, dell’autorità, del concetto di ispirazione e della nozione di “rivelazione”, giacché contraddistinguono la teologia rispetto alla filosofia. Si mostrerà infine come la dimensione comunitaria e della scelta (appello alla libertà) siano connaturate alla teologia intesa come fede critica, la cui peculiarità è di collocarsi senza nostalgie nel mezzo tra fideismo, razionalismo e un certo relativismo. Dal percorso emergerà infine la proposta di una nuova cristeologia.

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Inevitability, contingency, and epistemic humility

Cited by 36 publications

References 17 publications

Accounting for complexity in medical education: a model of adaptive behaviour in medicine

Accounting for complexity in medical education: a model of adaptive behaviour in medicine

Against defaultism and towards localism in the contingency/inevitability conversation: Or, why we should shut up about putting-up

Lineamenti di cristeologia. «Fede critica» e umiltà epistemica: il rapporto ragione-fede al confine tra meta-teologia, metodologia e vita

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