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Argumentation and Evidence

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Abstract

This essay explores the role of informal logicand its application in the context of currentdebates regarding evidence-based medicine. This aim is achieved through a discussion ofthe goals and objectives of evidence-basedmedicine and a review of the criticisms raisedagainst evidence-based medicine. Thecontributions to informal logic by StephenToulmin and Douglas Walton are explicated andtheir relevance for evidence-based medicine isdiscussed in relation to a common clinicalscenario: hypertension management. This essayconcludes with a discussion on the relationshipbetween clinical reasoning, rationality, andevidence. It is argued that informal logic hasthe virtue of bringing explicitness to the roleof evidence in clinical reasoning, and bringssensitivity to understanding the role ofdialogical context in the need for evidence inclinical decision making.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sunnybrook and Women's Health, Sciences Centre, Joint Centre for Bioethics, University of Toronto, Room E349B, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4N 3M5

    R.E.G. Upshur & Errol Colak

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  1. R.E.G. Upshur
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  2. Errol Colak
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Upshur, R., Colak, E. Argumentation and Evidence. Theor Med Bioeth 24, 283–299 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026006801902

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