BIOMEDICAL TECHNOLOGY AS A PROBLEM OF HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

What is medicine today - science, skill or biotechnology of the human development? Medicine as science and practice brings new dimensions to the discussion of problems of truth, possibilities and limits of knowledge, features of observation and experiment, creative thinking, social constructivism, dialogue of cognitive practices. Investigating the laws that change the types of rationality in the history of medical practices leads to the conclusion that there is a sequential change of stages: magical practices, nature corresponding medicine, natural-science medicine and techno-science medicine. Holism and vitalism were the main features of ancient medicine. Natural philosophy gave a picture of the world, the principles of which were specified in the medical practice. The coexistence of ancient medicine and modern biotechnology introduces non-standard dimensions into the dialogue of cognitive practices. Whereas the feelings of traditional doctors served them as the instrument of diagnostics, today the skill of biotechnologists achieves perfection only in cooperation with a technical device.