Revisiting Abductive Reasoning Triadic Communication as a Methodological Antidote to Dichotomous Thinking
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Abstract
Abduction, a mode of reasoning identified by Charles Sanders Peirce, informs theories of clinical decision-making, but its existing applications to the medical sciences have remained narrow. Building from existing research in the context of patient noncompliance and clinical inertia, this paper advocates a broader understanding of abductive reasoning rooted within the nature of language itself. An example of such a reading of abduction is the theory of triadic communication articulated by American doctor-turned-novelist Walker Percy. Percy’s scholarship offers an impetus to examine noncompliance, inertia, and other loci of uncertainty as opportunities for learning, growth, and development of RHM perspectives.
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