ABSTRACT
From the time that rationalistic, medical science first emerged in Western civilization (with the School of Hippocrates, who rejected the older ‘magical’ ways of healing; see Lindeboom 1971; Papadakis 1978), a split has grown between personal experience and rational-scientific knowledge. Alongside this theoretical distinction grew, on the social level, a split between professional knowledge and the experiences of ‘lay’ people (Vansteenkiste 1978; Stacey 1988). In this contribution I will reflect on some of the consequences of ignoring, in the medical and health sciences, personal experience as a source of knowledge, wisdom and action. I will not deal with these questions here from an abstract, theoretical point of view, but try to draw some conclusions from actual life experiences.
