3.
|
Idealistic Studies:
Volume >
24 >
Issue: 3
Hugh Lafollette, Niall Shanks
Chaos Theory:
Analogical Reasoning In Biomedical Research
abstract |
view |
rights & permissions
| cited by
In this article we discuss two divergent accounts of non-human animals as analog models of human biomedical phenomena. Using a classical account of analogical reasoning, toxicologists and teratologists claim that if the model and subject modeled are substantially similar, then test results in non-human animals are likely applicable to humans . However, the same toxicologists report that different species often react very differently to the same chemical stimuli . The best way to understand their findings is to abandon the classical view of analogical - i.e., linear - reasoning, and replace it with a version informed by chaos theory. We briefly outline the current understanding of chaos, and trace its implications for toxicology and teratology.
|
|