Examining The Roots of Science in a True System of Healthcare
The modern form of science is built on certain premises and definitions. In general, the way this word is used today implies a study only of the material world, or what can be observed through the senses and intellect (what Anthroposophy would refer to as the ‘nerve-sense system’). The root of the word ‘science’, itself, is very revealing to its usage and meaning, as it shares both the meaning of “to know”, as well the concept of “to cut”, as in to separate, in much the same sense as the verb “to decide”.
This cutting is a function of the intellect, whose primary function is one of separating out different concepts and components from an experience. At this basic level, it is clear that the modern form of science is only half formed, as the separating out into different components is only one side of knowledge, where the putting back together into a meaningful whole is not acknowledged. It is one thing for our digestive organs (teeth, stomach, etc.) to tear apart our food and break it down into its smallest components, but this activity isn’t brought to fruition until the assimilative function completes the process, and integrates the nutrition into where it is needed in our body.
Along these lines, then, a complete activity of science can not only be built on the function of the intellect (breaking things down to their smallest components), but of another function which can put things back together — this is called the ‘gemüt’, or ‘emotional mind’. Without consciously acknowledging and integrating this into science and its methodology, the goal of objectivity in science cannot be obtained, as this activity remains unconscious, and therefore built on presumptions.
What we do in our personal life, in terms of our emotional connections to, and knowledge of the people and the world around us, needs to be properly brought into science in a way which completes this total process of knowing. It is not only individuals with a high IQ who are needed in science, but also those with a high EQ (emotional quotient), who have a strong connection to this deeper form of knowing things in their gut. This is why Heilkunst is both an ‘art’ and a ‘science’, and acknowledges both forms of knowing as part of its method of diagnosis and treatment.