Philosophy is not Dead, but Needs to Update for Fitting Modern Development?

                        Frank Li        Jun 15 2013 in Canada

   http://frank-waterloo.blog.163.com/blog/static/20523902920135157138425/ 

 "Philosophy is dead because it has not kept up with modern 

 developements in science, particulary physics. "     

                           --- Stephen Hawking <The Grand Design> 

German philosopher Martin Heidegger who once said that philosophy is dead with the death of Friedrich Nietzsche. Also the British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking said that: philosophy is dead because it has not kept up with modern developements in science, particulary physics in his book <The Grand Design>. 

Obviously, as outstanding philosopher and physicist, Martin Heidegger and Stephen Hawking are both clear that philosophy is never dead, but they explained their disappointment and worries about confused world. 

I think that Philosophy is not dead, but it needs to be further developed to fit the world that is in rapid changing.

Here, I take the dilemma that Wetern medicine is facing as example, to discuss the significant of updating the medical philosophy and the progress has been achieved so far.

In the article <Chinese Medicine - A Promising Therapeutic Approach>, I once said that:

Conventional Medicine or Western Medicine (WM) has been taking Reductionism as philosophical guidance, it looks human body as an assembly of parts, and tries to study, diagnose and treatment of the diseases through the isolated part by reducing human body as micro as protein, gene and even peptides. Under this approach, today we even can make life by genetic technology in a glass tube. It is really amazing. So public have been convinced that modern WM is most scientific, most advanced, and most reliable. 

However, because human body is a complex system that various organs are closely interconnected with interdependent and interacting, there are many unpredictable factors in affecting the development of diseases, especially the psychological factors. Many facts have showed that the medical route under the guidance of Reductionism is not sustainable feasibly, for instance:

Nine years ago, in 2003, we once cheered for the completion of Human Genome Project with the happy of getting a new powerful therapeutic approach. Many of us once thought that we could uproot all human diseases since then. However, until now, it seems have no genetic therapies been applied in clinic safely and stably, because of we have been clear that there are dozens, even hundreds different gene-fragments in affecting the development of one disease.

Therefore, those believed as most advanced, most scientific, and most reliable genetic therapies are only hopeful flowers that may need long time and more study to bear enjoyable fruits. I believed that, this fruit can not mature forever, because it can not uproot the stress or psychological pressure – the main inducement of the diseases.

On the other hand, there are no suitable synthetic drugs for some diseases, which were made under the guidance of Reductionism, such as, super bugs. Even those existing drugs, also, are not all safe; the side effects of some of them are becoming new life-threats.

It is very disappointed but is a corollary under the misleading of the medical philosophy - Reductionism. 

In as much Reductionism cannot work well, we should introduce new philosophies into medical system. 

In the article of <Viewing Human Lives as Emotional Alive>, I once said that:

The hopeful one may be the Holism – a philosophy that macro-views natural systems as wholes and functioning as wholes. In Medicine, it takes the treatment of any subject as a whole integrated system physically and psychologically. However,  it said that “There Are Two Sides to Everything.” Compared with Reductionism, Holism is too macro that may induce to ignore the factors in micro.

In recent years, scientists have developed System Biology. From many articles that talk about it, we may draw out that, it is focuses on complex interactions within the biological systems and takes those properties of cells, tissues and organisms are functioning as a system whose. It typically involves in the metabolic networks or cell signaling networks.

Compared with Reductionism, Systems biology has achieved a great progress and closer to Holistic way. However, it seems not enough yet, since it do not consider the important diseases inducement - psychology.

Therefore, the best way is to combined use them all to make up the disadvantages by the advantages of each other's. Thereby we can get rid of the current predicament in Western medicine.

In viewing as this way, we may clearly see that, System Biology has played a role as a bridge to make the Reductionism and Holism being well integrated. They should be called as the Three Philosophical Brothers of Medicine.

Following contents are reedited from my article <Daoism - The Philosophy of Traditional Chinese Medicine>.

TCM has been developing under the guidance of Daoism that is similar to Holism. It is one of the important ancient philosophies of China, which has been deeply influencing China, East and South Asia.  

It consists of two parts - philosophy and religion. Here I talk about philosophy only.

Taoism is contrary with Reductionism. It is similar with Holism. Suppose that Reductionism focuses on a specific grass on the Himalayas, and then the Daoism is not only focusing on the entire grass, but also concerning those would affect the growth of grass, such as, destructive pests, the greenhouse effect and the reduction of glacier cover, etc.

Under the guidance of Daoism, TCM believes that human body is an organic whole that all components are closely interacted. It considers the interactions of various existing factors' from all components including the social and psychological factors.

Compared with Western medicine, TCM was believed as most primitive, most unscientific, and most unreliable. However, many modern researches have inadvertently proven the outstanding of TCM. Its holistic perspective with emphasizing the decisive role of psychological factors on the development of diseases is most rational and scientific. Such as:

Henry K. Beecher’s The Powerful Placebo (1955), George Engel’s Biopsychosocial model (1977), the crossing disciplines research proved that Stress Causes Everything (2008), Ohio State University’s Socially active environment can cause cancer tumors to shrink and even disappear (2010) and British Man with 'Locked-in' syndrome makes amazing recovery by his strong will for survival (2010), etc.

Those findings clearly indicated that, for most diseases, negative psychological plays inducement effect and positive psychological has therapeutic effect. On this point, TCM is much admirable. In thousand years ago, TCM practitioners have found that diseases treatment is seven-tenths in psychotherapy and only three-tenths in medication.

Suppose we take the placebo effect as a kind of psychotherapy, then the proportion of seven-tenths in psychotherapy is close to the modern scientific statistics from the double-blind clinical trials, which was “placebos are effective in 50 or 60 percent of subjects with certain conditions.” And “some researchers maintain that there is not adequate evidence from studies to prove that the new (antipsychotic) drugs are more effective than placebos.”

Talk to here, we may easily understand the rationality of TCM, also we may firmly be convinced the rationality of its Philosophy – Daoism.

Although, above philosophies are in medical related, however, I think it has a universal significance for any field.

Now, we may easily understand that Philosophy is not dead, but the limitations of a variety of philosophical have apeared more and more prominent when dealing with constantly changing of the objective world, we need continuously to explore and updated them.

Viewing Human Lives as Emotional Alive -1
Viewing Human Lives as Emotional Alive -2
Chinese Medicine - A Promising Therapeutic Approach -1
Chinese Medicine - A Promising Therapeutic Approach -2
Chinese Medicine - A Promising Therapeutic Approach -3
Chinese Medicine - A Promising Therapeutic Approach -4