Geschichte und Wissenschaftstheorie der Medizin

The History and Philosophy of Medicine Group examines the conditions and consequences of transforming boundaries of medical knowledge. Our historical and philosophical projects explore how the subject area of modern medicine has been formed and revised, and which roles changing ideas of scientificity have played in these developments. We study different forms of knowing and uncertainty, taking into account varying constellations of stakeholders, from regulatory agencies to patient groups. Our research and teaching aims to make seemingly self-evident characteristics of contemporary medicine questionable in order to engage in constructive interdisciplinary dialogues about the genealogy and future of knowledge in medicine.

Teaching

At Bielefeld University, the History and Philosophy of Science of Medicine working group forms a bridge between the Faculty of History, Philosophy and Theology and the Medical School OWL. Against this background, the members of the working group teach both in the core medical curriculum and in the interdisciplinary Medical Humanities profile.

In the core medical curriculum, the working group is involved in the modules "Introduction to Medical Studies", "Scientific Thinking and Action", "Brain, Nerves and Psyche", "Beginning of Life" and "End of Life".

Medical students can choose the interdisciplinary profile Medical Humanities as one of five specialisations. It is organised by the History and Philosophy of Science of Medicine working group together with the subjects of Medical Ethics and Health and Medical Law. The aim of this specialisation is to strengthen students' reflexive skills and to teach them methods from the humanities that enable them to critically examine the historical, philosophical, legal and ethical implications of the medical profession.

The working group is part of the Theory-Oriented-Object-Laboratory (TOOL) initiative. In selected courses in the history of medicine in the core curriculum and in the interdisciplinary Medical Humanities profile, medical history object sources are used in the courses. The objects are on permanent loan from the Bielefeld Hospital Museum, with which there is an ongoing cooperation.

Supervision

In the longitudinal strand Scientific Thinking and Action of the degree programme in Medicine, the WG supervises research work in the subject areas of the history and philosophy of science of medicine (module 5-II-MEDW, beginning of 2nd stage of studies, 7th semester). In the optional Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences (B. Sc.), in which the Bachelor's thesis is written in an additional subject-related semester after the first stage of the degree programme in Medicine, the working group supervises Bachelor's theses (prerequisite: Medical Humanities profile, see brief information).

In addition, we supervise subject-relevant doctoral projects in medicine. In the subjects of History and Philosophy, we supervise Bachelor's and Master's theses as well as doctoral projects.

Please contact us as soon as possible if you are interested in supervision of a thesis by members of the research group.

Colloquia

• Boundaries of Medical Knowledge Colloquium (Tuesdays 14:15-15:45 pm)
   
• PhilLiSci Colloquium of Marie I. Kaiser, Alkistis Elliott-Graves and Lara Keuck (Wednesdays 2-4 pm)
   
• We host some sessions at the I2SoS Colloquium (Tuesdays 4-6 pm)

Events of the Research Group

24.6.-27.6.2025: Master Class on Epistemic Injustice with Miranda Fricker, co-organized by Lara Keuck and Christian Nimtz
 

Past events

07.11.2024: Introducing TOOL: Theory Oriented Object Laboratory Mini-Workshop, Thursday, November 7, 14.15-15.45, A2-107

Organised by Lisa Regazzoni and Lara Keuck

What can we learn about theories, especially theories of history and theories of medical knowledge, when we study objects? TOOL, the Theory Oriented Object Laboratory (room A2-107), is a new venue and a collaborative project that addresses this question from different historiographical perspectives and through a variety of material objects and collections. We cordially invite all interested parties to attend our opening workshop and learn more about TOOL and how to participate in the project and engage with theories through objects

 

30.9.-2.10.2024: Workshop "Philosophical Engagement with Biology of Medicine" including the 5th PhilInBioMed Network Meeting, organised by Lara Keuck, Marie I. Kaiser, Alkistis Elliott-Graves, Fridolin Gross and Thomas Pradeu, ZiF Bielefeld: More information (ZiF), More information (Philinbiomed)

 

13.06.2024: "Fascism in the Minds": A reconceptualisation of disability in a post-euthanist society.

Whether in the debate on inclusion or prenatal diagnostics, the controversy over society's treatment of people with disabilities and the "right" lessons to be learnt from the experiences of Nazi eugenics and the "euthanasia" murders is not coming to rest. The presentation explores the question of how, when and by whom a radically new understanding of disability - especially mental disability - was developed in post-war West Germany and what headwinds the various actors had to contend with. Much has been written about coming to terms with the past; less has been written about the change in practice. It was not until the 1970s-1980s that an "anti-post-fascist" generation was able to bring to life a new pedagogy for the disabled, including school integration experiments on the one hand and a de-hospitalisation movement on the other - the latter in the name of the 50,000 people with intellectual disabilities who were either housed in outdated large institutions or remained "misplaced" in psychiatric departments. Historian Dagmar Herzog will talk about the secular-political and theological-philosophical arguments used by the activists - and how the cripple movement ultimately made the cause of people with intellectual disabilities its own - on 13 June 2013.

Dagmar Herzog is Professor of History at the Graduate Centre of the City University of New York. She has published widely on sexual and gender history in modernity, Holocaust studies and the history of religion, including Sexuality in Europe: A Twentieth-Century History (Cambridge, 2011); Lust und Vulundbarkeit (Wallstein, 2018); Die Politisierung der Lust (Siedler, 2005; Psychosozial 2021); Cold War Freud: Psychoanalyse in einem Zeitalter der Katastrophen (Cambridge, 2017; Suhrkamp, 2023). She is currently researching the theology and politics of disability in Germany, 1870-2020. Announcement (pdf)

 

28.11.2023: Interdisciplinary panel discussion. Changeability and effectiveness of medical diagnoses. More

 

17.10.2023: Colloquium Gender guest professor Prof Dr Londa Schiebinger. "From the Mind Has No Sex? to Gendered Innovations" More information, announcement (pdf)