Abstract

In this article I lay the foundations towards a tentative characterization of clinical reasoning, one that highlights its reflective and inferential character, as well as its fallibility and orientation towards action. To this end, I put forward some epistemic considerations on medical knowledge followed by addressing the following questions: _what tools exist for teaching clinical reasoning_? and _how to develop a clinical competence through critical thinking_? Moreover, I offer an overview of clinical reasoning through the lenses of two theoretical perspectives in philosophy: the cognitive and the logico-argumentative and finally, I put forward my own approach belonging to the latter one.