What is Life?
Simon A. Senzon, M.A., D.C.
Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research ~ June 19, 2003 ~ Pages 1-4
Abstract
One starting point in discussing the many aspects to the philosophy of chiropractic, is to examine one of its central questions, “What is life?” Most chiropractors agree that living systems are self-healing, self-organizing, and self-regulating. These attributes of living systems begin to describe what life is. The question that (to the chagrin of some), lies at the heart of the chiropractic paradigm, is not just that life is defined as vis medicatrix naturae (the healing power of nature), but that it has distinct attributes from non-life. Concurrently, this question has become a prime focus of many philosophically minded biologists. (Table 1) By looking below the surface, we find that the philosophy of chiropractic and modern theories in biology have many parallels. In fact, they have developed alongside one another. If this is true, that current biological thinking and the philosophy of chiropractic are very similar, then there may be new and innovative ways to educate, research, and actually do chiropractic. Before exploring some of these possibilities, it is important to examine the question in more detail. What is life?
