| In the past decade, alternative medicine has become increasingly popular. “Alternative medicine” is a broad term used to define most any healing practice that falls outside of the range of biomedicine. The philosophy behind alternative medicine contrasts that of biomedicine. Whereas biomedicine emphasizes an objective, linear, approach that excels in isolating the causal mechanisms of disease and its cures, alternative therapies tend to be holistic and emphasize the interconnection of mind and body in the arena of healing. The beliefs that underlie alternative healing practices seem slippery, enigmatic, and incompatible with the tenets of biomedicine. Because biomedicine is backed by the prowess of science, the sudden popularity of alternative medicine is an issue of great interest. Once perceived quackery, alternative medicine has entered the arena of biomedicine carrying with it terms like “integrative medicine” and “complementary care.” Many who oppose alternative medicine point to its ideological connection to postmodernism and its flagrant attempts to align itself with the emerging theories in quantum theory. In addition, its popularity has been explained as an oppositional move against the increasingly impersonal and technological praxis of conventional medicine.; Alternative medicine is often described as a spurious movement that will be neutralized or abandoned in light of biomedicine's investigative prowess. Nevertheless, describing what alternative medicine as merely an oppositional movement and trying to dispel its beliefs because these beliefs are illogical and unscientific may not be the best approach to understanding alternative medicine. Neither is championing alternative medicine simply because of its esoteric opposition to the ideological narrative of science. The increasing popularity of alternative medicine evinces a persuasive appeal that brings rhetoric into the realm of medicine in spite of the painstaking efforts to create a realm free of the art of persuasion. This dissertation explores the challenges of integrating alternative and biomedicine by examining rhetorical issues that guided the construction of biomedicine, examining rhetorical aspects of alternative medicine, and elucidating primary issues that should be important to any effort to integrate medicine. |
