The Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine

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The Philosophy of Philosophy with a View on Health

I think that there is a ‘Golden Thread’ running through the whole of philosophy which is a roadmap towards optimal human survival and health.

Some say that the primary goal of evolution is to spread successful genetic material far and wide. The most robust ‘genotypes’ would then presumably have the greatest chance of producing successful ‘phenotypes,’ given the constraints and limitations of the environment. Nature and nurture could then be considered as allies in the game of evolution and survival.

As each biological system struggles towards optimal and enduring survival, other systems may be competitors, while still others form symbiotic relationships. As biological systems developed in more complex environments, more complicated strategic alliances began to emerge on the survival front. For example, the common crow may use a complicated array of communication techniques to simultaneously secure food and safety. Survival of the individual and the successful group are testimony to the spread of stronger genes. At a variety of levels, some conscious and some not, new and important survival techniques would evolve over time. An appreciation for beauty, love, and eventually wisdom, would emerge as powerful techniques to assure optimal survival and genetic evolution.

Through untold eons of time, human systems developed complex emotions and cognitive processes to help win this struggle of life over death. As new cultures emerged, the notion of survival took on a variety of different approaches. Survival for family and working groups, plants and animals, and eventually an appreciation for tools and shelters became paramount. As more time passed, survival through the gates of death itself became the ultimate strategic goal for many.

Seers and mystics of various and sundry types would eventually emerge. These special individuals would communicate their ideas in every language and from many perspectives. Among the early outputs of these survival systems were included the Ancient Vedas and Upanishads. Some say that there were much earlier tomes on survival.

The common task, from the subatomic particle to the zebra, and throughout humanity, appears to be survive, survive, and then survive some more. Even the drives towards the creation of art, music, dance, and verse, could be boiled down to this common denominator by the clever thinker.

As our cognitive machinery proceeded to become more refined, philosophy rose among the greatest of the healing arts in a way. From the early dawn of civilization, natural philosophers would not only develop complex strategic plans, but also detailed tactics, to insure optimal survival. From the East, systems of fitness and health were inextricable linked with divine and metaphysical overtones. Systems of yoga, Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, and a variety of related systems would eventually emerge among many other related systems.

I think that the theme of health and survival may also be seen throughout the evolution of Western philosophy. In many ways, the true philosopher is the soul of medicine.

At a variety of levels, humans have evolved a collective consciousness. Within this scheme there are those who tend to resonate with certain aspects of survival and others that resonate with other parts of the whole. However, the whole of philosophy may be considered to be the global view, complete with universal truths mixed of course with its share of untruth and conjecture. I see the individual philosopher as a facet reflecting part of the whole. However, none except the true eclectic philosopher would be capable of representing the whole system of philosophy and only the complete picture could reflect the optimal survival strategy.

To illustrate my point, I see the ‘philosophy of philosophy’ as an idyllic archetypical thread that links the best of philosophy with a universal theme: survival. Using the Hegalian dialectic as a model for the evolution of the ‘philosophy of philosophy,’ each universal truth might be considered as a ‘thesis’ in itself. As a new facet gets added to this grand scheme, the new construct might be perceived as supporting or as being the ‘antithesis’ of the original construct. However, true universal constructs would add to the synthesis of the whole of philosophy. Innate drivers that mold every form, as Aristotle postulated, would of course be among the teleological factor goading survival intrinsically. The Kantian view of solving scientific problems by combining rational thought and empirical observation would certainly have its place in this idyllic scheme.

For example, I think that the Nicheian concept of the ‘superman,’ while debatable in its details, might in ways reflect parts of a universal prototype for optimal individual survival. At yet another level, ‘The Republic’ of Plato, while being perhaps full of its own dross, can be viewed as a reflection of a higher level archetype. This time the archetype is reflective of a group of groups, each one potentially reflecting a unique facet as part of an optimal survival strategy for group collaboration and cooperation.

When viewed as a composite whole, the ‘golden thread through all of philosophy’ takes on a very special meaning. Paramount within the meaningful aspects of the whole philosophical system may be seen a puzzle with a very important goal strewn amidst its pieces. To ensure optimal survival is to ensure ‘optimal health.’

From this proposed vantage point, I think that the ‘golden thread through philosophy’ may be seen as the ultimate health and wellness model. Of course, the ongoing realization of this lofty model would only be accurate if it reflected the all of philosophy that ever was or ever could be.

I think that the outward manifestation of the ultimate health and wellness model would then be reflected in archetypical beauty at a variety of levels and planes. Within this idyllic schema many universal philosophical constructs might be seen as drivers towards the compendium of axiomatic universal truths. The moral views of Francis Bacon, the importance of strength as noted by Nietzsche, the empirical thinking of Aristotle and the introspection of later philosophers are all examples of these universal drivers.

Thus, the ‘universal axiomatic truths’ as plucked throughout the whole tree of philosophy, including before the Vedas, might be seen as a roadmap. This roadmap, if viewed in its entirety (including links to all of science and religion), would ideally be a preventive systems model leading to optimal survival as reflected in optimal health. Not just optimally healthy individuals, but optimally healthy groups, and systems of groups. Of course, the focal place of human disease, the workplace, would eventually take on its true level of significance in preventive medicine as the philosophy of philosophy manifests.

Now, given the utopian realization of the philosophy of philosophy, what might be the role of ultimate physician? I think the role of doctor would then take on its true original meaning as teacher.

It is interesting to me that the father of medicine, Hippocrates, was not only a physician, but a philosopher as well. Like Descartes, Hippocrates was also a dualist. He believed that the soul ran the body, but was also a separate entity in itself. Would the archetypical physician also have a spiritual inclination, as well as being a teacher. If so, then the ideal physician could help to assure higher standards throughout the sum total of minds, or a manifestation of God in Spinoza’s purview. Would the natural evolution of the ‘philosophy of philosophy’ be the manifestation of optimum survival, health, and beauty throughout the ‘higher planes of existance throughout eternity’, as untold philosophers have postulated?

If so, then would the genetic systems eventually ‘reset’ themselves towards optimal health after generations of living the ‘philosophy of philosophy’ manifest? Of course, nutrition, stress management, and fitness protocols would have been optimized is this utopian paradise. And what of the physician / teacher? Would the new focus be upon agronomy, architecture, art, music, nutrition, balanced exercise systems, and stress leadership? Would it also require a significant knowledge of emergency medicine, just in case? And even then would the art and science of emergency medicine being practiced within the strictest of cultural and ethical guidelines?

I think that the practical manifestation of the ‘philosophy of philosophy’ would be deeply rooted in aesthetics and demonstrated in myriad forms of beauty: beauty of body/mind/spirit within the context of social systems, living spaces, and multicultural diversity. Kabbalistic philosophers would certainly agree. Perhaps the most important yardstick to measure success by might be called a universal aesthetic template. Beauty would be the outcome of ‘golden thread through philosophy’ manifest over long periods of time.

Of course, humanity has a very long way to go before the manifestation of ‘the philosophy of philosophy’ could even remotely become a living reality, if indeed it was meant to be. However, we as human systems have a very unique tool: our imaginations. That tool is constantly changing medicine, the arts, and the humanities. Schopenhauer reminds us that the intellect tires but the will works even in sleep. I think the will towards survival is the driver of the imagination. Imagine well, my fellow humanists!

Published: March 13, 2005