Vitalism
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| + | [[Image:Hands of God and Adam.jpg|thumb|200px|''[[Hands of God and Adam]]'' ([[1500s]]) is a detail of the [[Sistine Chapel ceiling ]] by [[Michelangelo]]. It is a detail from [[Adam and Eve on the Sistine Chapel ceiling|Adam and Eve cycle]]]] | ||
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| - | '''Orgone energy''' is a term coined by physician and [[psychoanalyst]] [[Wilhelm Reich]] for the "[[energy (spiritual)|universal life energy]]" that he claimed to have discovered in published [[experiments]] in the late 1930s. Reich claimed that orgone energy was a "[[life energy]]" which filled all space, was blue in color, and that certain forms of illness were the consequence of depletion or blockages of the energy within the body. These claims were and are regarded as "nonsense" and [[pseudoscience]] by scientists, journalists and non-scientists during and after Reich's lifetime. | + | '''Vitalism''', as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is |
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| + | #a doctrine that the functions of a living organism are due to a vital principle distinct from biochemical reactions | ||
| + | #a doctrine that the processes of life are not explicable by the laws of physics and chemistry alone and that life is in some part [[Self-determination|self-determining]]'' | ||
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| + | Where vitalism explicitly invokes a vital principle, that element is often referred to as the "vital spark," "energy" or "[[élan vital]]", which some equate with the "[[Soul (spirit)|soul]]". | ||
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| + | Vitalism has a long history in [[medical]] philosophies: most [[traditional medicine|traditional healing]] practices posited that disease results from some imbalance in the vital energies that distinguish living from non-living matter. In the Western tradition founded by [[Hippocrates]], these vital forces were associated with the [[four temperaments]] and [[The four humours|humour]]s; Eastern traditions posited similar forces such as [[qi]] and [[prana]]. It is often contrasted to [[reductionism]], the more mechanistic approach. | ||
| + | == See also == | ||
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| + | * [[Dualism]] | ||
| + | * [[Energy (spirituality)]] | ||
| + | * [[Esoteric healing]] | ||
| + | * [[Etheric body]] | ||
| + | * [[Hans Adolf Eduard Driesch]] | ||
| + | * [[Henri Bergson]] | ||
| + | * [[Holism in science]] | ||
| + | * [[Homeopathy]] | ||
| + | * [[Irreducible complexity]] | ||
| + | * [[Odic force]] | ||
| + | * [[Philosophy of biology]] | ||
| + | * [[Prana]] | ||
| + | * [[Qi]] | ||
| + | * [[Rupert Sheldrake]] | ||
| + | |||
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Revision as of 21:25, 24 February 2013
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Vitalism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is
- a doctrine that the functions of a living organism are due to a vital principle distinct from biochemical reactions
- a doctrine that the processes of life are not explicable by the laws of physics and chemistry alone and that life is in some part self-determining
Where vitalism explicitly invokes a vital principle, that element is often referred to as the "vital spark," "energy" or "élan vital", which some equate with the "soul".
Vitalism has a long history in medical philosophies: most traditional healing practices posited that disease results from some imbalance in the vital energies that distinguish living from non-living matter. In the Western tradition founded by Hippocrates, these vital forces were associated with the four temperaments and humours; Eastern traditions posited similar forces such as qi and prana. It is often contrasted to reductionism, the more mechanistic approach.
See also
- Dualism
- Energy (spirituality)
- Esoteric healing
- Etheric body
- Hans Adolf Eduard Driesch
- Henri Bergson
- Holism in science
- Homeopathy
- Irreducible complexity
- Odic force
- Philosophy of biology
- Prana
- Qi
- Rupert Sheldrake
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Vitalism" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
