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VOL. 10, ISSUE 4 (2025)
The evolution of western medical paradigms in the twentieth century and the reconstruction of holistic health
Authors
Lung-Tan Lu
Abstract
This study explores the paradigm evolution of
twentieth-century Western medicine and the reconstruction of holistic health
from the perspective of medical and intellectual history. Through a
historical–documentary analysis, it traces the transformation of medical
thought from the clinical revolution and the establishment of the biomedical
model to the rise of public health governance, medical
globalization, and the subsequent return to holistic health. The
findings indicate that Western medicine underwent a complete epistemological
cycle: from the empirical bedside practice of the eighteenth century to the
laboratory-based biomedicine of the nineteenth, the institutionalized public
health systems of the early twentieth, the global expansion driven by wars and
Cold War politics, and finally, the integrative, human-centered orientation of
the late twentieth century. While biomedicine achieved unprecedented success in
disease control, life expectancy, and equality of access, it also created
epistemic and ethical imbalances through reductionism, medicalization, and
industrialization. The holistic health movement since the 1970s represents both
a critique and correction of biomedicine’s limitations, emphasizing
multidimensional well-being that integrates biological, psychological, and
social factors. The paper concludes that the essence of twentieth-century Western
medicine is the dialectical tension between scientific rationality and
humanistic concern. Future healthcare must reestablish equilibrium between
technology and humanity, restoring the original telos of medicine as the care
of the whole person.
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Pages:59-63
How to cite this article:
Lung-Tan Lu "The evolution of western medical paradigms in the twentieth century and the reconstruction of holistic health". National Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development, Vol 10, Issue 4, 2025, Pages 59-63
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