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VOL. 1, ISSUE 2 (2025)
The reconstruction of health concepts in twentieth-century western medicine: From reductionism to human-centered care
Authors
Dr. Lung-Tan Lu
Abstract
Twentieth-century Western medicine established
global dominance through a reductionist and empiricist methodology that achieved
unprecedented technical precision while simultaneously narrowing the meaning of
health. The mechanistic dissection of the human body—from cellular pathology to
molecular genetics—secured remarkable progress in diagnosis and therapy but
also fragmented medical knowledge and alienated the patient as a person. This
article re-examines the historical evolution of health concepts in modern
Western medicine from the dual perspectives of medical history and the history
of health thought. Drawing upon philosophical, sociological, and clinical
sources, it traces how reductionism, medical specialization, and the
medicalization of daily life reshaped the understanding of health, disease, and
the human subject. It further analyzes how technocentrism, the commodification
of health, and the moralization of well-being transformed medicine from a
healing art into a technological enterprise. The study argues that the core
trajectory of twentieth-century Western medicine follows a dialectical movement
from wholeness to fragmentation and toward renewed integration. By revisiting
integrative and narrative approaches to care, as well as community-based and
patient-centered models, the paper highlights the contemporary shift toward
reconstructing a human-centered paradigm that reconciles technical rationality
with moral and existential dimensions of health.
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Pages:17-21
How to cite this article:
Dr. Lung-Tan Lu "The reconstruction of health concepts in twentieth-century western medicine: From reductionism to human-centered care". International Journal of Applied Review
, Vol 1, Issue 2, 2025, Pages 17-21
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