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William James, Faith, and the Placebo Effect
- Perspectives in Biology and Medicine
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 48, Number 2, Spring 2005
- pp. 273-281
- 10.1353/pbm.2005.0059
- Article
- Additional Information
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Long considered a fact of medicine and of clinical investigation, the placebo effect has recently been challenged. The thought of the great American psychologist and philosopher William James, particularly his understanding of the practical value of faith, helps to illuminate the nature of the placebo effect and the implications of this puzzling phenomenon for understanding healing and the practice of medicine.