Author: Virgil Seutter
Date: October 8, 1997
Parent Node:
2.0 Holism: An Anthropological Concept Applied to Medicine (2.0)
2.1. The origins of holistic thinking lie somewhere in man's cultural development as a species. The contextual application of classical holism to medicine is not a new concept. The Greek philosophers observed this relationship between man and his environment. Plato's emphasis upon a spiritual holism, one that maintains a perspective relationship between body and mind, is an often quoted reference supporting the holistic notion. But even this reference may be antedated by the ancient Chinese medical philosophy in observance that "Man stands between Heaven and Earth." The dualistic nature of man is never far removed from the mythical nature of man as an entity.
2.2. Joseph Campbell has observed this well in Bill Moyer's "The Power of Myth" when he states a principle theme of classic mythology: "The secret cause of all suffering..." "...is mortality itself, which is the prime condition of life. It cannot be denied if life is to be affirmed."(2.2a) Perhaps this isn't too far removed from the reality of nature and the conflict between health and disease. It is the fact that mortality is an emergent phenomenon, one that is dependent upon "intent and design (2.2b)."
2.3. How we observe health and disease would appear more than just the examination of a biological specimen. The underlying "intent and design" of the organism somehow has not been considered in the nature of mortality as a transient phase of existence. The struggle between health and disease may be no more than the conflict between intent and design as an information process rather than one that fits a biodegradable nature as a biological specimen. How we view information as a motivational construct may depend upon how we understand the relationship between intent and design (as a mobilizing force) in the role of biological plasticity.
HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE
Seutter, V. "Commentary: Holism, Alternative Medicine, and Why Chiropractic Embraces It. Holism: An Anthropological Concept Applied to Medicine" Chiropractic Resource Organization. 8 Oct 1997. ChiroZine ISSN1525-4550
1997-2001 Chiro.org. All rights reserved.
(c) 1997 Chiropractic Resource Organization. All Rights Reserved. Reprint by permission.
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