Physical Therapy implications of "ontology determines epistemology"

Understanding the Stratified Layers

In the dynamic field of physical therapy, our approach to understanding and treating the human body should be influenced by our philosophical stance on what constitutes reality and knowledge. Central to this discourse is Roy Bhaskar’s pivotal axiom: ontology determines epistemology. This principle compels us to consider not just the biological aspects of the human body but its complex interactions with the environment, a perspective that enriches our clinical inquiry and therapeutic interventions. It asserts that the nature of being or existence (ontology) fundamentally shapes our understanding and acquisition of knowledge (epistemology). The circularity that seems to emerge from this statement can easily be remedied once you keep in mind that “ontology” referes to how things actually are, regardless of what we know or think about them. Of course, what we know or think about them are our only basis of knowing the “ontology.” But that’s part of accepting realism, things exist external to our mind, external to what we know about them.

Ontology determining epistemology in physical therapy and the many implications that follow

Ontology determining epistemology presents a profound philosophical conundrum in understanding and knowledge acquisition (and therefore clinical inquiry fellows).