New definitions of evidence in contemporary Medicine: contributions from Anthropology

Abstract

This article explores the "productive" importance of the Humanities and Social Sciences - Anthropology particularly - through the revision of the "impact" produced in an eminently empirical field: Medicine, particularly after the hegemony of Evidence Based Medicine (EBM). The impact of the Humanities in general and Anthropology in particular has a two fold meaning: 1) as a critical foundation against the "fundamentalistic" positivist view - disease is something purely biological - and 2) the incorpora tion of a new humanistic repository - maybe better the recovery of many of contemporary practices. The increasing relevance of Humanities on modern medicine with the emergence of Narrative-Based Medicine (NBM), movement of what has become known as "Narrative Turn" in the field of medicine - we offer here a case-study about Borderline Person ality Disorder - challenges the assertions that insist on their lack of productivity and effectiveness. We suggest here an opening movement towards more inclusive definition of evidence-in epistemology and academia, but also in clinical practice.