Modi diversi di concepire l’effetto placebo

After the presentation of a logical joke that could be used to get a placebo effect, the important question of how the placebo effect can be conceptually identified is addressed with reference to the different approaches by Adolf Grünbaum and by Howard Brody. The first is highly abstract and general, and is about how to state rigorous definitions. The second provides some ideas and some evidence for an explanatory unified theory of many placebo phenomena. Although Grünbaum’s methodological concerns are justified, Brody’s contribution looks more interesting as it tries to be more informative about the nature of the placebo effect.