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Philosophical Schools Of Thought And Methods Of Reasoning Relevant

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Philosophy Summative Assignment - Discuss the main philosophical schools of thought and methods of reasoning relevant to the practice of chiropractic

Introduction

This assignment will discuss the main philosophical schools of thought and methods of reasoning relevant to the practice of chiropractic. It is relevant to first understanding the meaning of chiropractic, philosophy and its branches. The main schools of thought; vitalism, holism and naturalism to name a few, will be discussed and related to the practice of chiropractic.

‘Chiropractic (Greek kheir, hand, and praktikos, practitioner) is defined as the science of treating human ailments by adjustment of the spine’ Bradbury, P. (1957). It is grounded in the principle that the …show more content…

The questions above can be answered by relating to the schools of thought, from connecting these thoughts to the questions imposed, philosophy of chiropractic will evolve.

A Brief History

Throughout its short life time, Chiropractic has been divided by its internal factors; chiropractors themselves. Chiropractic has been split for the last 100 years into at least two metaphysical camps because of the inability to have honest, intellectual and critical debate over philosophical issues (Coulter, 2000); innatists and rationalists. Innatists held their belief in vitalism. Opposing this are the rationalists, who choose to reject the innate and universal intelligence. It is possible that this conflict arose due to D.D. Palmer’s confusion about philosophy and how it imposes chiropractic (Coulter, I.D. 1999). It is likely early happenings resulted in chiropractic defending its profession with ‘chiropractic philosophy’ rather than clarifying the nature of the profession by teaching ‘philosophy of chiropractic’.

This conflict had immediate impact on practice. Two types of chiropractors; straights, claiming true ‘chiropractic philosophy’, practicing on the spine only, and mixers; who embraced a wider range of practice, treating the whole body (Coulter, I.D. 1999). The concept of innate intelligence found itself wedged between the split, embraced by the innatists, and persistent of dogma for the rationalists.

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