Virtue Epistemology in the Context of Philosophy of Medicine and Medical Practice: Relevance and Prospects for Integration

Introduction. The article examines the integration of virtue epistemology into the philosophy of medicine and clinical practice and its role in strengthening trust between medicine and society. The topic is linked to the crisis of trust in official medicine and the spread of HIV denialism. Particular attention is given to the epistemological dimension of doctor–patient communication.

Methodology and sources. The study is based on conceptual and comparative analysis. The main sources include works on the philosophy and epistemology of evidence based medicine, together with studies devoted to virtue epistemology. Publications on evidentialism are also considered.

Results and discussion. The article analyzes arguments for and against integrating virtue epistemology into the philosophy of medicine. Supporters of evidence-based medicine prioritize the results of randomized clinical trials, while physicians’ experience is regarded as a less reliable source of knowledge. Anti foundationalists, however, emphasize the limitations of randomized clinical trials and the importance of clinical experience. The article therefore argues for evaluating physicians’ intellectual character through both reliabilist and responsibilist virtue epistemology.

Conclusion. The integration of virtue epistemology into the philosophy of medicine may strengthen trust between society and medicine. Particular attention is paid to experimental philosophy and its ability to reveal views within the medical community concerning desirable and undesirable traits of physicians’ intellectual character. Such an approach broadens the possibilities for the philosophical analysis of contemporary medicine. At the same time, the proposed approach allows philosophical reflection on medical knowledge to be connected more closely with everyday clinical decision making and professional responsibility in practice.

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