The philosophy of Emergence and Complexity in the service of Osteopathy: in search of an epistemology of osteopathy in dialogue with contemporary philosophy

Abstract

Osteopathy is a discipline of healthcare that calls for systemic handling of patients. Osteopathy research has struggled to provide proof of the effectiveness of this practice. We think that osteopathy research needs to evolve in order to find a methodology that would allow it to account for its specificities and originality. This article notes the contribution of the philosophy of emergence in the elaboration of an epistemology suited to osteopathy as the precondition for a rationality adapted to the singular nature of this form of therapy.