At first glance, health and philosophy may seem unrelated, but they actually share significant common ground.
For more than 400 years, Western philosophers have generally split into two groups. One group believes our bodies and minds are separate but connected entities. The other group sees mind and body as one integrated, holistic system.
This philosophical division has influenced modern medicine, often resulting in treatments that separate diseases from the patients themselves, focusing on symptoms and outcomes rather than the patient’s overall experience. This idea, known as the Cartesian split (named after French philosopher René Descartes), sometimes makes hospital environments seem unwelcoming to emotional or spiritual aspects of care.
On the other hand, Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza in the 17th century completely disagreed with Descartes. Spinoza saw the mind and body as inseparable parts of a whole being.
Slowly but surely, the medical community is starting to embrace Spinoza’s holistic view. Although the shift is slow, there’s growing recognition that spiritual and mindful approaches can play significant roles in healthcare. Practices like acupuncture for nerve pain relief, meditation and hypnosis as alternatives to anesthesia, and even psychic readings for diagnoses are gaining acceptance for their healing benefits.
If we look at the bigger picture, we see how deeply rooted the Cartesian way of thinking is in Western medicine. What we consider “alternative” treatments often come from different cultural traditions—such as Oriental, Indigenous American, African, and Polynesian cultures—that view illness in ways that Western thinkers like Descartes or Spinoza might not recognize.
This article doesn’t deny the remarkable advances Western medicine has achieved. Instead, it highlights how much our thinking is shaped by our cultural histories and urges us not to be limited by them.
In our interconnected 21st-century world, we have access to a vast range of knowledge and experiences. Limiting our approach to illness and suffering to just one perspective means we’re not using all the resources available to us.
As the global population grows, it’s crucial to use every tool we have. Conventional Western medicine is often expensive and limited, especially in mental health, where alternative, evidence-based options exist. We just need the openness to utilize them.
And, believe it or not, this openness begins with a philosophical shift.