The centuries-long debate about the mind-body connection still affects medicine today
By Paul Bolger. Chartered Physiotherapist at Nano Physiotherapy, Kilkenny (www.nanophysio.ie).
Do you think that mind and body are interconnected, or separate? Do you believe that they impact on one another? This is a debate that has taken place over many centuries – at least as far back as ancient Greece (and possibly further back in other cultures). It even influences modern medicine – how we view disease and illness and how we try to treat or prevent most conditions.
Church and Science
The origins of our modern belief that mind and body are separate entities has its roots in a time when the Catholic church in Europe felt threatened by emerging ideas in science. In 17th century France, René Descartes posited his concept of ‘Cartesian dualism’ – in other words, physical substances (like the body) and mental substances (like the mind or spirit) are different and separate.
This idea was very agreeable to the church at the time – it separated people in two, allowing scientists to explore the physical world of the body while the soul and mind remain the domain of the church.
The Sun and the Earth
Because his ideas did not pose a threat to the church’s authority, this allowed them to spread far and wide. Anyone who suggested that mind and body were one and the same would have been shunned, much like Galileo was in 1633 for suggesting that the Sun, not the Earth, was the centre of our solar system.
While his ideas weren’t completely new, Descartes’ philosophy became the foundation on which much philosophy, science and medicine grew out of. Today, many medical beliefs and treatments stem from this view of the world.
Ancient Ideas
While René Descartes is responsible for popularising this idea, records from ancient Greece show the debate was alive and well even then.
Plato argued that the soul (or mind) was immortal and distinct from the mortal body. He believed the soul was the seat of reason and virtue, while the body was a temporary vessel prone to corruption. Aristotle, however, viewed the soul as the form of the body, inseparable from its physical counterpart.
It would be interesting to imagine what today’s world had Aristotle’s idea become the dominant philosophy.
Medical Science
The dualistic view that Descartes pioneered has greatly influenced modern medicine. Since then, scientists have viewed the body as a machine made from individual parts and systems – like how a mechanic might view a car. This is what we call the biomedical model of health.
While this view of the body has helped to bring about fantastic advances in the fields of anatomy, surgery and physiology, it has resulted in a narrow, mechanical view of health that often misses a huge part of the picture.
These days, people who are unwell are sent to a particular department – neurology, rheumatology, orthopaedics, psychiatry. While occasionally this may be the right place for somebody to go, it is a restricted way of approaching health. We need to start to appreciate the whole person – not just their component parts.
We aren’t simply machines. We are living organisms – in many ways we are more like an ecosystem than a car. And yes, the mind and body are intrinsically linked together.
Let’s explore this closer over the coming weeks.
