Switch to: References

Add citations

You must login to add citations.
  1. Etiological Explanations: Illness Causation Theory.Olaf Dammann - 2020 - Boca Raton, FL, USA: CRC Press.
    Theory of illness causation is an important issue in all biomedical sciences, and solid etiological explanations are needed in order to develop therapeutic approaches in medicine and preventive interventions in public health. Until now, the literature about the theoretical underpinnings of illness causation research has been scarce and fragmented, and lacking a convenient summary. This interdisciplinary book provides a convenient and accessible distillation of the current status of research into this developing field, and adds a personal flavor to the discussion (...)
    Download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   4 citations  
  • Principled Mechanistic Explanations in Biology: A Case Study of Alzheimer's Disease.Sepehr Ehsani - manuscript
    Following an analysis of the state of investigations and clinical outcomes in the Alzheimer's research field, I argue that the widely-accepted 'amyloid cascade' mechanistic explanation of Alzheimer's disease appears to be fundamentally incomplete. In this context, I propose that a framework termed 'principled mechanism' (PM) can help with remedying this problem. First, using a series of five 'tests', PM systematically compares different components of a given mechanistic explanation against a paradigmatic set of criteria, and hints at various ways of making (...)
    Download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  • Memory enhancing drugs and Alzheimer’s Disease: Enhancing the self or preventing the loss of it? [REVIEW]Wim Dekkers & Marcel Olde Rikkert - 2007 - Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 10 (2):141-151.
    In this paper we analyse some ethical and philosophical questions related to the development of memory enhancing drugs (MEDs) and anti-dementia drugs. The world of memory enhancement is coloured by utopian thinking and by the desire for quicker, sharper, and more reliable memories. Dementia is characterized by decline, fragility, vulnerability, a loss of the most important cognitive functions and even a loss of self. While MEDs are being developed for self-improvement, in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) the self is being lost. Despite (...)
    Download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   7 citations  
  • (1 other version)Indispensability arguments in favour of reductive explanations.Jeroen Van Bouwel, Erik Weber & Leen De Vreese - 2011 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 42 (1):33-46.
    Instances of explanatory reduction are often advocated on metaphysical grounds; given that the only real things in the world are subatomic particles and their interaction, we have to try to explain everything in terms of the laws of physics. In this paper, we show that explanatory reduction cannot be defended on metaphysical grounds. Nevertheless, indispensability arguments for reductive explanations can be developed, taking into account actual scientific practice and the role of epistemic interests. Reductive explanations might be indispensable to address (...)
    Download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   8 citations  
  • Ethical aspects of research into Alzheimer disease. A European Delphi Study focused on genetic and non-genetic research.A. van der Vorm, M. J. F. J. Vernooij-Dassen, P. G. Kehoe, M. G. M. O. Rikkert, E. van Leeuwen & W. J. M. Dekkers - 2009 - Journal of Medical Ethics 35 (2):140-144.
    Background: Although genetic research into Alzheimer disease (AD) is increasing, the ethical aspects of this kind of research and the differences between ethical issues related to genetic and non-genetic research into AD have not yet received much attention. Objectives: (1) To identify and compare the five ethical issues considered most important by surveyed expert panellists in non-genetic and genetic AD research and (2) to compare our empirical findings with ethical issues in genetic research in general as described in the literature. (...)
    Download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   3 citations  
  • Explanatory pluralism in the medical sciences: Theory and practice.Leen De Vreese, Erik Weber & Jeroen Van Bouwel - 2010 - Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 31 (5):371-390.
    Explanatory pluralism is the view that the best form and level of explanation depends on the kind of question one seeks to answer by the explanation, and that in order to answer all questions in the best way possible, we need more than one form and level of explanation. In the first part of this article, we argue that explanatory pluralism holds for the medical sciences, at least in theory. However, in the second part of the article we show that (...)
    Download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   13 citations