Refutation against the Non-Scientificity Argument on Korean Medicine

한의학의 비과학성 논란에 대한 반박

This study is aimed to refute against medical opponent's claim that Korean medicine does not conform to the conditions of science. Analyses and refutations against a journal treatise and a Facebook column formally written for a logical criticism and attack were conducted. As an example of the logic of the knowledge production process in Chinese medicine, 8 principle theory was exemplified in the Han danasty Classics "Neijing" and "Shanghanlun" at first. The knowledge was continuously revised and accumulated historically and then completed through Ming、Cheng period. The differential diagnosis and treatment theory is a logical process of forming knowledge through the process of abduction, deduction and induction begun from "Shanghanlun" succeeded to nowadays and it is essentially equaled with the process of experimental inference by Claude Bernard. Examples of normal science status based on Kuhn's scientific standards include the theory of 8 principle, differntial diagnosis of viscera and bowel, 3 yang and 3 yin diseases of "Shanghanlun" and warm disease theory. Examples of science lost or get its normal status by refutation following Popper's standards were cold damage theory and warm disease theory respectively. This allowed Chinese medicine to follow the general principles of science that form scientific knowledge and to correspond with the demarcation standards and concepts of science. However, as one of the conditions for becoming a science, Chinese medicine is partially lacking in terms of the interpretation of text language or the accordance with modern knowledge. Therefore methods are required to supplement this lack through multi-faceted research such as literature-based, theoretical and clinical studies.