Instead of presupposing reality as the realists do, a genetic theory of knowledge attempts to understand scientific knowledge through the psychological origins of both the concepts, and the operations on which these concepts are based. Adopting the viewpoint of genetic epistemology, the envisaged theory of medicine will have to perform a threefold task: (1) A revision and reformulation of the psycho-physical problem and the development of a model for the living body; (2) A revision of our views concerning the relationship (...) between humans and the inanimate and animate environment; and (3) The development of a concept for the construction of individual reality and its consequences for the patient-physician relationship. (shrink)