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INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOSOPHICAL MEDICINE Anthroposophy, derived from the Greek words: anthropos=man, sophia=wisdom represents a way of dealing with science, and life issues in general, in a holistic way. Anthroposophy is rooted in the Western (scientific) tradition; it has a Western perspective. It incorporates all fields of modern science into a spiritual and comprehendable approach. Therefore, Anthroposophy is synonymous with "Spiritual Science" (Geisteswissenschaft).
The Founder of Anthroposophy was Rudolf Steiner, PhD, an Austrian natural scientist and philosopher, who was born on February 27, 1861, at Kraljevec on the Murr Island in what used to be Hungary at that time. He entered the university of Vienna at age 18 and studied natural history, mathematics and chemistry. He did extensive philosophical reading and attended philosophy lectures by Karl Julius Schroeer, a leading philosopher and scientist of that time. Through his Professor Karl Julius Schroeer, Rudolf Steiner began at age 22, to edit Goethe's Natural Scientific Writings. At age 25, he wrote hisTheory of Knowledge Implicit in Goethe's World Conception. From 1890 to 1897, Rudolf Steiner then lived in Weimar, Germany, where Goethe had lived a major part of his life and where most of Goethe's writings had been kept in archives. In 1891, Rudolf Steiner received his PhD at the University of Rostock. His thesis was: Die Grundfrage der Erkenntnistheorie (The Fundamentals of a Theory of Cognition). Rudolf Steiner became a leading scientist in the field of Erkenntnistheorie (Theory of Cognition). In 1894, Rudolf Steiner wrote his first "anthroposophical" book, "Philosophie der Freiheit", or, as it is currently translated "Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path". Also, in 1894, a series of personal meetings with Friedrich Nietzsche at his home in Berlin took place. Rudolf Steiner died in his small studio in Dornach, Switzerland, in 1925.( "The Essential Steiner" by Robert A. McDermott., 1984. Harper San Francisco. ISBN 0-06-065345-0, gives a wonderful and thorough overview of the person and work of Rudolf Steiner). Rudolf Steiner was not a physician. Therefore, he founded Anthroposophical Medicine and the Medical Section at the Goetheanum in association with the Dutch physician Dr. Ita Wegman (1876 to 1943). Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman co-wrote the basic book on Anthroposophical Medicine, "Fundamentals of Therapy" (Mercury Press, Spring Valley, New York, 1999, ISBN 0-929979-75-3).
Ita Wegman (1876 - 1943) Anthroposophical medicine treats both acute and chronic diseases, considering both the physical and the non-physical (spiritual) elements of the patient. Working with such elements to extend the range of conventional practice, does not make Anthroposophical medicine vague or imprecise. All Anthroposophical doctors and other health care providers must first qualify in their conventional training, first before they can effectively study, and then practise Anthroposophical medicine. Western conventional medicine, as we know it, is derived from natural science, the study of material phenomena, whether something can be weighed, measured or counted (ponderable values). In the last 500 years, natural science has hugely expanded our understanding of the world around us. Although many of the early scientists were persecuted for their discoveries, they were inspired by this new method of inquiry as they no longer had to rely on traditional religious and philosophical teachings and traditions. For us today, this spirit of independent inquiry is as important a legacy as the brilliant achievements of natural science in technology and medicine. The modern, scientific view of the world gradually evolved through one set of discoveries building upon another. The pioneers made their greatest contributions in the field of astronomy and physics, producing formulae to describe the apparent movements of the planets in respect of the sun. In the seventeenth century, Sir Isaac Newton proposed the concept of force and gravity, through which the movements of the planets were explained by the same formulae that described the way inert objects fall to earth. The basic laws of chemistry began to be formulated when it was discovered that, by weighing inorganic materials before and after chemical reactions had taken place, it was possible to make mathematical descriptions of those reactions. In the Renaissance Italy, an interest in human anatomy prompted artists (notably Leonardo da Vinci) to dissect corpses in order to make the first detailed drawings of the internal structures of the body. The modern discipline of anatomy grew from these studies of dead bodies. Similarly, observation and measurement of the functions of human and animal bodies and their organs led to the gradual development of physiology, which is an accumulation of methods of applying the laws of physics to the living organisms. Biochemistry also emerged as a method of applying the laws of chemistry to living things. Currently, anatomy, physiology and biochemistry are taught as basics to all medical students and students of most other health care professions. The principles of each are derived from studies of the non-living, but their methods have been applied to the living: the plant, the animal and the human being. Because of this, modern science (including conventional medicine) presents an incomplete picture of the world in its totality. As will be seen in this course, the laws that relate to inert matter should only be applied to the physical aspects of living things. They do not take into account their life, soul (mind) and spiritual dimensions and, therefore, a further science is required to complete the picture. This is the role of Spiritual Science, or Anthroposophy. The whole of life is characterized by processes, e.g. the circulation of the blood, the flow of substances in and out of the liver, and the digestive activity. Natural, scientific examinations of these processes tend to reduce them to mechanical systems and chemical reactions, typically breaking up the organism to be studied and analyzing the parts outside their normal environments. This "freezes" the physical expression of the processes into a form which can either be dealt with in the laboratory or other experimental settings, but fails to explain fully its role within the living being. It might be said that natural science tends to analyze a "snapshot" of a process rather than the process itself. Anthroposophy differs from this approach by regarding the processes in the living as expressions of spiritual (imponderable) principles. It is these higher principles underlying the physical realm that have to be grasped before the life element (or life forces or etheric forces) can be understood. If the activity involved in a life process is studied, rather than an isolated "snapshot", a step is taken towards understanding that element which organizes inert matter into a complex living organism or body. Wherever life prevails, the normal behavior of matter is modified, or even reversed. For example, lifeless matter tends always towards a state of disorganization. A stone wall breaks down into dust through erosion; a hot kettle returns to the same temperature as its surroundings when removed from the heat source. However, in plants, animals and human beings, matter is organized into complex physical bodies. As long as the life element is present, the high state of organization is preserved. But when it departs, as at death, the matter of the physical body breaks down again into a disorganized state; it returns to "dust". By way of another example of how life modifies the laws of the physical realm, it can be observed that inert matter falls predictably under the influence of gravity. Plants, however, grow up from the ground towards the sun, in opposition to gravity. It is, of course, recognized that they are still subject to gravity, and that ripe apples fall to the ground. The point here is that the plant draws mineral substances from the earth, organizes them in accordance with a predetermined structure, and endows the whole with an ability to oppose gravity.("Anthroposophical Medicine" by Dr Michael Evans and Lain Rodger, 1992. Thorsons. ISBN 0 7225 2771 3 ). Thus, there is a ponderable world which is the domain of natural sciences and which is inert, material in its origin, and where things can be measured in kilograms, meters, liters, Hertz, Angstrom, Rad, etc. The ponderable world is a world of quantities. In addition, there is an imponderable, living world which deals with phenomena, which cannot be measured by the ordinary natural scientific method: love, hatred, flexibility, endurance, joy, sense of humor, etc. cannot be measured in kilograms or gallons. The imponderable world is a world of qualities. Later in the course we will describe possible ways to "objectify" qualitative observations and data. Health, or well-being, might be an example of something imponderable. There are many definitions of "health", all of which are an effort to objectify, to describe what is so complex, that it is difficult to capture it with words alone. Two North-American national organizations -the American Holistic Health Association (AHHA), with its headquarters in Anaheim, California, and the American Holistic Medical Association (AHMA), located in Raleigh, North Carolina- have each referred to the traditional philosophical dualism of "part/whole" directly addressed in the field of holistic health in the following way: According to the American Holistic Health Association: "Rather than focusing on illness or specific parts of the body, holistic health considers the whole person and how it interacts with its environment. It emphasizes the connection of body, mind, and spirit. Holistic Health is based on the law of nature that a whole is made up of interdependent parts. The earth is made up of systems, such as air, land, water, plants, and animals. If life is to be sustained, they cannot be separated, for what is happening to one is also felt by all of the other systems. In the same way, an individual is a whole composed of interdependent parts, which are the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. When one part is not working at its best, it will impact on all other parts of that person. Further, this whole person, including all other parts, is consistently interacting with everything in the surrounding environment." According to the American Holistic Medical Association: "Wellness is defined as a state of well-being, in which an individual's body, mind, emotions, and spirit are in harmony with, and guided by, an awareness of society, nature, and the universe.... [It] encompasses all safe modalities of diagnosis and treatment, including the use of medications and surgery, emphasizing the necessity of looking at the whole person." When one studies both statements, one can see, that there is mentioned concepts like mind, mental, emotional and spirit, or spiritual. What is the difference between mind and spirit ? How does spirit relate to the body ? Anthroposophical medicine has developed comprehendable concepts and a very clear and precise nomenclature to enter the imponderable world, and overcome the traditional (philosophical) dualism. Anthroposophical medicine seeks to study both the ponderable and the imponderable worlds by developing new methods of research and thus bridge the abyss between the "dead" (inorganic) and the "living" worlds. Anthroposophical medicine is a product of such strivings. Anthroposophical medicine seeks to understand the physical and the non-physical and apply the results of its research to health and healing. For any comments or queries please do not hesitate to contact: Prof. Robert Gorter |
