Analysis of Scientific Reasoning in Traditional Iranian Medicine

Traditional Iranian Medicine (TIM) is a comprehensive medical system، which is different from the modern medicine in various aspects. To find out why the TIM is considered a comprehensive medical system، the philosophical foundations of the TIM in the fields related to medical sciences، medical profession، and clinical practice should be defined. In this paper، with a rational and philosophical (rather than historical) approach، we have addressed scientific reasoning in the TIM، with the results related to the field of medical philosophy (as one of the second-order philosophies). The thinking system of TIM and modern medicine are different in their approach to man، life، and health; definition of basic concepts such as health، disease، and treatment; theorizing the medical sciences; and employment of comparative and deductive logics. The current paper addresses these topics. In the paper، we have attempted to demonstrate how the thinking system of the TIM has influenced principles of diagnosis، rational of clinical decision making، different levels of disease treatment، and evaluation of a hypothesis in clinical experiences