The role of philosophy

[Guest guest]

> literal definition of continuum in mind,

> " A continuous extent, succession, or whole,

> no part of which can be distinguished

> from neighboring parts except by arbitrary division " )

 

I think that the relative importance of philosophy will depend on the levels

of practice and their respective patient populations.

 

I believe that there are a variety of jobs within Chinese medicine that can be

successfully taught by standard, western procedural training. I don't think

that workers in these jobs will need to know too much philosophy because

their diagnostic and therapeutic range will be standardized and stable. I

imagine there will be some degree of proceduralization at every level of

practice (if only for economic viability) and that there will be exceptions to

any trend at every level of practice.

 

Chinese language descriptions of acupoints and medicinals, their functions,

as well as the patterns of signs and symptoms to which they relate are vast

and inter-related. I doubt that this knowledge will be easily reduced to

procedures, particularly for complex conditions that do not respond to

standard approaches. Because the philosophical constructs evolved

" organically " to organize the experience from which the medicine evolved,

the concepts of Chinese medicine are the natural organizing principles of

the information. Thus, understanding the philosophy is very likely the

shortest route to mastering the information. In other words, the

philosophical concepts are a key to efficient learning.

 

I also think it important to consider that being a clinician is not simply a

matter of treating patients. It is necessary to make many choices in a

professional career. Many of these choices, like education and continuing

education, what information to accept or reject, are critical to success. I

think it helps to have a sense of the medicine through Chinese eyes when

choosing how to improve your clinical skills.

 

We are now arguing about the role of Chinese language, culture and

philosophy because we have more information and are gaining a deeper

understanding of the scope of Chinese medicine and the limits to our

current knowledge and understanding. I suspect we have not fully

appreciated those limits and that the role of historical, philosophical and

cultural studies will remain in flux for some time still.

 

Bob

 

 

bob Paradigm Publications

www.paradigm-pubs.com 44 Linden Street

Robert L. Felt Brookline MA 02445

617-738-4664

 

 

---

[This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]