[Buddha-l] Medicine, Efficient Cause and Philosophy

[Joy Vriens]

Hi Katherine,

>I’ve never lived in France myself, but I do see a 
>French homeopath here in Costa Rica who also happens 
>to be a regular M.D.

Yes, I had forgotten about homeopathy, but I have the impression it's getting less popular. Serious cuts and changes are being made currently in order to "save" the social security/public health system. A homeopath in France is always a regular M.D. Many French people use homeopathy to treat what they call  "maladies de terrain" (underlying causes of ailments) and regular medecin for more acute treatments. Many young mothers will use homeopathy to heal the running noses etc of their children, but as they grow older it's regular medecin they will turn to.

>Coulter is an advocate for homeopathy.  He sees two 
>distinct lines emerging in Western thought as far back 
>as the *Corpus Hippocraticum* itself: (a) an empirical 
>line that tends to treat the whole organism, ignore 
>efficient cause and follow the *similia similibus 
>curentur* principle and (b) a causal line that leans 
>toward localized treatment, find causal agents of 
>disease and follow the *contraria contrariis* 
>principle.  Coulter does a great job of pointing out 
>the mutual influences between medicine and philosophy. 
> So it’s the age-old battle of "earthies" versus 
>"airies."   

The contraria contrariss principle also happens to be one of the main principles in sorcery and healing. "Whatever has the power to harm us can also heal us". 

Joy