n communication and correspondingly, in practice. AOM profession binds itself into a monoculture of mind through unconscious adherence to logics of Aristotle, which has three postulates:
axiom of identity: that which is A is A.
axiom of non-contradiction: that which is not A cannot be A.
axiom of the non-included middle: there exists no third term, T which is at the same time A and non-A. In other words, there is no paradox.
Many who practice classical forms of Chinese medicine approach the problem from an Aristotelian view.
It is reasonable to consider that contemporary Chinese medicine developed in alignment with Cartesian philosophical dictums, rooted in Aristotelian thought. The extent of the Silk Road and its influences on medical thought were not isolated events. Examples of such influences are located in slogans used by Chairman Mao's government in state developed forms of TCM:
The Cooperation of Chinese and Western Medicine: 1945-50
The Unification of Chinese and Western Medicine: 1950-58
Chinese Medicine Studies Western Medicine: 1950-53
Western Medicine Studies Chinese Medicine: from 1954–58
Integration of Chinese and Western Medicine: 1958 – Present (8, pp. 23-28).
Net result of these campaigns: a synthesized practice of Chinese and Western medicine, currently taught in the major university medical systems throughout China. Chinese medicine, as practiced today and no matter where on this great globe, has an integral composition of thought threads forming it.
We return to discussion of the Aristotelian-Cartesian worldview. Descartes provided rules for thinking that involved reduction, simplification and clarity in Discourse on Method9. This reductionism may be located in the gold standard of quantitative research, the randomized, double blinded, placebo controlled trial, where environmental complexities are limited with the intent of control that simplifies and clarifies the inquiry. These rules for directing the mind, coupled with Aristotelian logic, have become the foundation for good thinking, which in turn has become institutionalized in the university systems10. This view is now the rigor in University systems of China conducting research on Chinese medicine. But, is it possible the gold standard is losing its sheen?
Vitalism and scientism are both ensconced in the beliefs of the practitioner. From a third, post-paradoxical view, the applications of vitality in harmony with science can be achieved12. The post-paradoxical view entertains mechanism and vitalism from a newly created and inclusive space. In a lower level of reality, opposites are not compatible. When restricting worldviews to a single discipline, higher levels of reality are unattained because the incompatibility of truths between disciplines maintains the space between them. However, when viewing the universe through accessing new levels of reality by merging opposite truths a more sophisticated universe is realized. Through the complimentary pairings of perception and level of reality a merging of the two is possible. After paradox, what is there? The space operates as if potential opposites are both true.
Reason P, Bradbury H. Handbook of action research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications; 2006.
The Sage Handbook of Grounded Theory. 3 ed. Bryant A, Charmaz K, editors. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 2007.
Montuori A. Forward. In: Montuori A, editor. On Complexity. Cresskill, New Jersey: Hampton Press; 2008.
Ames RT, Hall DL. Dao De Jing (Making this Life Significant): A Philosophical Translation New York: Ballentine Publishing Group; 2003.
Morris W. Vitalistic Philosophy Acupuncture/TCM Vis Medicatrix Naturae: Stewardship of the Source of Healing: The LifeSource Octagon, A Center for Infinite Thinking; 2009.
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