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Foundations of clinical praxiology part II: Categorical and conjectural diagnoses

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Abstract

The concepts of categorical diagnosis and conjectural diagnosis are introduced. It is argued that in diagnostic reasoning conjectural diagnosis plays a more important role than categorical diagnosis. Attention is called to the inevitable vagueness of clinical language and to the suitability of epistemic logic and fuzzy logic for diagnostic reasoning.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Theory and History of Medicine, University of Münster, 4400, Münster, Germany

    Kazem Sadegh-Zadeh

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  1. Kazem Sadegh-Zadeh
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I am very much indebted to Professors Rudolf Gross, Karl E. Rothschuh, Richard Toellner, Hans Westmeyer, and Wolfgang Wieland whose works [4, 15, 22–24] have greatly influenced my interest in, and my way of thinking about, the subjects I discuss in this study. The wise and kind criticism of my [16] by Professor Gross has helped me to look at the clinician's task more realistically.

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Sadegh-Zadeh, K. Foundations of clinical praxiology part II: Categorical and conjectural diagnoses. Metamedicine 3, 101–114 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00882718

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