Orthodox medicine is ineffective at both ends of the spectrum of ailments. At the more trivial end, orthodox medicine...
tayloryorkSeptember 23, 2021
I am confused, how is D correct?
Hello, I am having a lot of trouble understanding how D is correct? Answer Choice D says:
(D)a patient's belief in the medical treatment the patient is receiving can release the body's own chemical painkillers, diminish allergic reactions, and promote healing
I think my trepidation with this answer choice is that it does not specifically mention alternative medicine. How can this answer affect the charge made against alternative medicine in the conclusion when this could logically be applied to any medical treatment?
I ultimately chose (C) assuming that 'hope' was a relevant effect - I understand why D would be the better answer choice if it mentioned alternative medicine. However, since it did not, I am a bit confused about the logic here.
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I thought "hope" was a relevant effect too. But I realized that I was making a further assumption that "hope" is effective at doing the sort of things that orthodox medicine fails to do (i.e., eliminating aches, pains, allergies, etc.). However, the answer choice never states that or implies that further assumption. On the other hand, if we look at the passage and see that these patients are turning to alternative medicine because " ...orthodox medicine fails to help them...", then it seems to me that it is implying that they believe (i.e., the patients) it will help them in those areas that orthodox medicine failed to help them; also, look at the the critique, namely, it is saying that alternative medicine has no effects at all, medically speaking, which includes both negative and positive, so with that in mind, we can reread D in a new light:
For instance, if it is true that the patients belief in the medical treatment the patient is receiving can release the body's own chemical painkillers, diminish reactions, etc (i.e., which are all stated in the passage as those things that orthodox medicine is ineffective in treating), then it is not true that alternative medicine has no effects; again, why are they turning to alternative medicine? Reason demands that it is because they think or at the very least believe that alternative medicine can do the sort of things that orthodox medicine cannot.
