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RALPH L. ENGLE, JR., MD

Arch Intern Med. 1963;112(4):530-543.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

We have reviewed the various meanings of diagnosis and have shown how the term encompasses everything from the art and science of medicine to the concept of the specific disease. We have demonstrated how difficult it is to define many of our terms and indeed, even with our agreed definitions, to be as certain of some terms as of others. We have traced the changing concepts of disease through the ages and noted that there is no unified concept or classification of diseases. The philosophical importance of the theory of universals as it applies to medicine has been discussed. When one reviews these problems, it must seem remarkable that medical science is as advanced as it is. However, as our experience tells us, recurrences do occur in nature, and there is some evidence that nature even suggests the ways in which to make generalizations.¹ In medicine, is there hope . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
NEW YORK

Associate Professor of Medicine; Department of Medicine, the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center.

Footnotes
Received for publication Feb 9, 1963; accepted May 6.

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