2 Jnatemptng orate rg fconterporry Green thing ‘and their link withthe practice of medicine, i important to appreciate how the diferent approaches to Knowledge have ‘uenced both the pae and style of enquiry. From Table 1 we ean see that ou present conceras form ony snl part ofthe yee af changes that hae ccurred on earth, Fer Ruel’ The Awaken ‘ng Earth draws attention othe specie els of study that ave curactrised emergent orders of evolution (Table) ‘The back to nature’ aspect ofthe Green movement draws on & appeal not only nthe romantic Rousees-aque sense ‘but inthe writings of ninetenth-century biologist. The founder ‘ofmoder ecology, Brest Haeke, wae the fit tooutie some the guiding principles" Hachel (84-1929) wat a zolopst i terested in the mroscopic forms of parasite snd amoebic en ties. Nevertheless, he was concerned with matters marroseople 4nd myatial and his tre books The Rides of the Universe ad The Wonders of Life! were bestelers, He coined the term Tbe Our presen ine perpestive [ig ng Gorman oFanvene) anon Fermaton of Earth September Ong of A senenber ‘Simian oxen "Decent Pt fh 9December ist mama 28December iat Romans 5: December ita panting 21gopm 31 December Che agosspm Reeauannce 1393.90 Prevent a Ft second of New Year's Day Saree © Sen Th Drager a lear) eed Darrick Peano Wie toy aioe The Origins of Green Ideas (wen) | Tables Emergent orders feat, showing Sell of say evant ‘othe dierent sages. have termed the sate fain flee Be Bt Bang the neroth evel, and ealed ithe Va i ll (ae Sore: Ra The heahnng Earth ‘ecology’ which he defined asthe scence of relations between ‘organisms and thelr environment Hi delim and goal was to search or ‘ruth and wholeness While oan ers wit the el wd nat ad ost tere weld canbe tly wn oly by capes cand pare reson, Truth and post are then cakes tie pesfect harmony fone Hackelsideas and his term ecology were taken up by other Slope ncoding Sain Hare {i85" whose “Rndomerel Sologial nto nclodd gener nt, reatonps ede {po ner gid igen hero thetorgans rates clog, thee nd sconomy ae oen wed deserve ordering prince chek oe segns beer bh rope fntiong ese hla was Bist sent rmanyoas wth cel = the battles between the nineteenth-century anaes and ets er ealed Konrad Lover te avelop i and‘standing of boli ethology, the sience of character based ‘on the detaled and precise study af animals. Ecology focused on the physical sphere or energy, climate, plan Ife and mineral re- sources, whist ethology studies the links between animal be Inawiour, the physical environment and human characteristics, ackel war adevout and spiritual person, « Mons. whe believed ‘one spint i al thing, one common fandamental lw His em belief ina pantheistic universe wa at od with the monotheistic stoerati religious views he associated with Christianity, He saw ‘Chrstianity a exsentily antenatre, and was convinced tha for ‘Man toliveinharmony both with hinselfand his environment he hua to live by Nature's Ins and worship Nature and not an anthropomorphised version of God “Hackel tured to Baddhism atthe one religion that appeared to addres the lars on nature ~ presaging the interest in Eastern foday's Green movement. The debate regarding the study of biology which Hackel and his followers commenced has ony recently sirficed in medicine. Up unt very recently medicine ths been content to view man and his diseases om a perspective sthich is primarly form of mechanistic materialism and which In diect contrast to the ove now expounded by followers of CGalahypothess and General Systems Theory Anditisfrom these ‘isimilar, views of evolutionary theory ‘The Gaia hypothesis Formulated by Dr James Lovelock and named after the Greek goddess Gaia, the Earth Mother, i destribes the planet as it ‘rere one unitary living sstem* Lovelock was. working. on ‘eter whetergmter ated plant and veloped the hypothesis that fe id exist ona planet t wou leave i footprint inthe chemical make-up of that planet a that these Tootprints could be detected overtime. In other ‘words, ino lie existed, the chemical sructare would achieve a equilibria according physical lawsf chemistry, but if ie di exit, i wold alec the chemistry ofthe environment in ‘ways other than could be predicted by physical chemistry alo ‘Using this principle to study the earths chemical structure Lovelock found thatthe predeted level of oxygen inthe atmos phere would be virtually ero fo lif existed on earth. In other ‘words, fr Ife to ext oxygen wat required, and fle ceased to intent contr by lau Berard, Lovelock sas the |overing pancple in evolutionary progres. ‘Gaia wat the manifestation of he entre range of ving matter ‘rom viruses through to man, lke some giant corporate ving city ich nome mtr antral wth ‘Sinsitunt pars bat with the temperatre, the atmosphere, the ‘ea and salto ensure the ‘optimum condition for the survival of life on the planet“ Lovelock went onto dently specif examples ff thi homeostatic principle including the steadiness of the Earth's rurfce temperature, the regulation ofthe amount of salt Inthe oceans, the stabilisation ofthe oxygen concentration and the presence of small quantity ofammonia isthe atmosphere. He set ‘pan experiment to test the hypothesis that there areasocations cf species which co-operate to perform some estential regulatory function, tht of keeping the parts ofthe system related o each" other and tothe whole, He portulted and identified the presence Of carrier compounds for elements essential to all Biological ‘stems, lodine and sul ‘Lovelock gives fll reditto earlier sientists for the idea that ‘the cath is ving organism. However its through his scientific ‘nd popula writing hat thi iea has permeated trough mich ‘ofthe Green movement. Laveocs background isin biology and ‘medicine and its from the ater discipline that he draws is most, ‘rocative metaphors: ‘Because of his derence in emphasis, a concern forthe planet rather than ourselves came to realise that there might be the ‘need fora new profession, that of planetary medicine At this erly stage in our understanding ofthe Earth as a Dhysilogcal entity we eed. General Practiloners, not Specialists ‘As par of ther graduation, physicians must take the Hippo- ‘ratic Out. Includes the injunction todo nothing that would harm the patient. A simlar oath 6 needed forthe putative planetary doctors ifthey are to wold iatrogenic error an oath toprevent the vertalou from sping a cure that wool! do Trove har than good” Lovalegowon o ge nmr cumple of he agri trot soferaplied othe Earth patient. The Galhypathen hs Seven up tod ovmed by he rect movement ond a, ihe allel phenomena, Both gained and lost asa esl Genera Sistema Theor, which predates Lavlod's work, as remsned tore fy with ahem ward eng, boweret Nery sar tothe Casper, and has ound a icra Int ifn place within medicine and ily ‘General Sytems Theory Weiss and Von Bertany, who are credited withthe fs expos: ition of what fe now known as General Systems Theory, were bolo who were not aad to draw on computer and engin ing insights in trying fo understand their own discipline of ‘ology Their model of examining the word involved the recog- ‘ition that nothingeouldbe etude on tr own and everything ws part ofarytem. ‘system const of objets with properties which cobere. The Felationships hat re brovght about by this coherence not only tie the sytem together, ut create conditions from which the properties arise The importance of the concept of system is {ha within an environment a set of objects can be seen to ‘oheran tertile artes dein te thture ofthe syrlem, and may create properties which ‘ote alone manilests The coming together to form a system ‘Zealled systematisntin snd any tendeney ofthe objects to fll, ‘part called segregation Miller, in his book Lising Systems, proposed. that all living ‘yrtems are composed of George Engel, he fx frost physica t utilae Gener] Systems Theory. . real rom the tradition! Biomedical mode with ts emphasis on ‘edctonistic and mechanic thinking that underpins much of the ot ecent ede aan Engel labelled is approach © Imediine, biopayehesocia and contrasted this with ‘eda model, hich he sw athe predominant ‘olk-medicine 1 Weatern society. Hes the ned to abandon this model as fue to explain and, more importantly, teatalarge proportion of the diceates and inesses that beset Western man. eS es ha cdc noe ee eee eee tes Bo Se ee eee oe ors epee epee esti eae ca eee Soe ee eens Beer ee reer Son eee ee meer eee Tete neea meats Rereasmenerees Engel drew heavily on Systems Theory to explain and expand ect ete er ars components ofthese model were each given the distinction of ‘fyrem Each system or leven the hierarchy possessed distinct characteristic oft own, Le. acell operates very diferent om ‘person. Yet each system is a eomponent tha can operate as + ‘Synamie whole but atthe same time is component of «higher fyatem, eg a cele part ofa tissue an tsues frm organs, ete ‘Thos each system both whole’ an atthe save tne forms part ofa greater whol. 1is by exploring the nature ofthe part and the ‘whole thatthe natural scientist operates. He sable todisect and Zhayse the component parts ofany whole Hike his reduetionstic ‘alleague, but he is avare of the need to see the whole « ‘whole, and also ass part of an even greater whole. Its the dynamic and fd quality of Systems Theory that allows for a ling ink to be made between the biologi and social cences ‘Ts ink has been farther strengthened by Prigogine whose ‘concept of dissipative structores won him the Nobel Pie. ‘We know we can interact with Nature. Tat the heat of the mene re Meriter ale tdci. * ing one way and anaer through it adaptation to ‘non-equilibrium conditions. With the ide ofa doomed perms. tment world view now gone, wean fel fe tmale our te for ‘ood orl Cassel sence made us fel that we were helpless ‘witnesses to Newton's clockwork word. Now sciene allows ot tofeel at home innate‘Wisthis fecingathome in natare! that drawsso many tthe Green movement together and i isthe exporition ofthese dese i ‘medicine tht George Engel hat 10 elegantly drawn together Using both models (Figures 2 and 3) he ister Res the ‘ystems-orientated physician” can draw on his biochemical knowledge at well as is socal and polit silat appre the problems of « middle-aged man with a coronary." my own Duper on the meaning of illnes, I further elaborate on Engels work and describe the Tanguages' required by the systems: _grentated physician if helshe isto practise holistic medicine’ = ‘These languages now include: the medic, molecular, material language of casi science; the psychological, psychodynamic nd poychosomatc ingage of Freud, Balt and Crogeck the Figure 3 Continuum ofeatarl systemsae a 2s x ‘cultural, soil and policl language of Hela, Parsons and Black, the archetypal, metaphorical and symbolic lnguage of Jong. Zeidler, Elade and Hillman; the preventive, educational od sntcpatory language of several offical and governmental ‘eports and. Bally, the spiritual, temporal and energetic lar ings found in Eastern medical txt and closely associated with frock of alent edie 1 ony by ating» ates {pproach where eachystem’ and language ca bin thu enrich the others that a truly “liste approach can be adopted olism and medicine ee were nt pled sind da Neti carro mien ero foe secheerneeae consul cea y Doce eeepes ln tds cong species a thy tafe Zr tings ie aca wis tee a an he eta ea ho fu core een areca rect Th Tite sprained by ew ok ie ‘chef rian tolerbecam obra ohio SariGeres ‘dF th Che made made ra Ory citae oes saab pre cere ertaais scans und te meas ntar of ere eated este ly remneur on erlida eos sete leclonen ote ceten mscrpe, he Sia ul’ ences spel sp ssow tone ae ee te Caen a erty ee ae ene eee So cone ea rear aieemes ne es and tak ave sw mre oe idsoyhicd Sits In medicine, howe, es ies coats! rere Sores Sages atten et Se SE ccteetenerantns ee SD ees Go bock Acacia epee sey aae tctact ie tral tes sto wean ceckact® he crete tok metre Bee Se tesa mood oe soe "Essentially he wew of halism wat not that dierent to Hackl ‘eof the word ecology’ ot to the Gals principle. Smut defined holm as etor operative towards the making or eeating of ‘holes in the Universe. He wrote, “Holi is' factor which Underline the sythetc tendency in the Universe and is the principle which makes for the origin and progress of whales nthe Tniverse, Wholenese- mars the line of evolutionary progress tn lime the nner driving force behind that progress Azan, ‘Seve the link between evolutionary forcesand guiding bilogcal prinepes For Smuts, holism didnot mean ‘the whole greater than the sum of he pert This second definition of holism can be ace to the Gestalt peycologits inthe 1gaos. Kola wrote, Tt has been ‘sid tha he whole Is greater than the sum ofthe parts, because Summing is 2 meaningless procedure whereas wholepar Felationship meaningll Smuts was abo fly cael not to imply the whole is necessuly greater, Le. better than the part ‘He wrote, I very important to recognise thatthe whole not something sional tothe parts. It the parts in daiitive “rictra arrangement and with mutual atts which const {ute the whole Again, one can draw parallel between General Systems Theory and the whole-part relationship emphasised by ‘oth Koll and Smuts. The word holism itself is derived rom the Greek wordholot meaning whole, complete and hlstic medi ‘ine places an emphasis on ‘regarding the whole person, body, ‘mind and spit, and on the whole person within hs own system, Emi conmanty, cure and einen. . “Thus halite medicine can be seen at applying « General ‘Systems view ovards the practice of medicine. Ofcourse whole- ‘person medicine is «concept that all doctors are, or should be, Einar wth, But the whole’ we choote to recognise eo ote determined by the prevalent biomedical model, which embraces both reductonsm and mind-bedy dualism. Holst medicine is ‘deed shout whole-person medicine but ts stength and tality Tiel the fc tat te definition of what constes a whole’ person {s drawn fom a aumber of diferent disciplines and not solely the biological sciences tie unfortunate thatthe term holistic ‘medicine has become almost synonymous with iterative medi- ‘ine and itis important to dstingush between these two epithets. olism espouses an approach and doesnot dicate any partion lar therapy: One canbe holistic and suggest ‘bra surgery’ and,‘one canbe ‘reductive’ and treat patents withhigh doses of itamin {C-The prinlar therapeutic sl each practioner employs does Sot necessarily determine the approuch he may take to the probleme presented by the patiet, The appeal that many Pjtematve Taerapies hav othe Green movement soften based ‘ona misunderstanding ofthe richness and complet that under pin the pectic of halls medicine, and has more todo with the Search fr simple and magical sltins ‘What does greening mean? ‘We have surveyed some of the major conceptual ideas that Underin the greening process and seen ow central the shit om rausaity to connectedness. Rather than fous on and [earch for the causes ato why the universe sats the greening Froces privileges «perspective which looks forthe connections That ma the universe att. The first ecestatesaredoctionist take the clock obits approach, the second observes the nature of the cack and how events and peope wil relate tots function ~ that of keeping time. In medicine this would imply that rather than focus on the causes of 2 coronary thrombosis, raised Cholesterl, poor oxygen supply, blocked arteries, the focus ‘Would be onthe crcumstancer in which the coronary took place, ‘eflcton the patient and bis immediate relatives, the impice- "aero Wek and fare ohn atthe greening proces can be seen at a move towards esi ol eg ie non ad reo we {@) the environment and the word of nature (ecology. environ ‘mental concerns, pollution, deforestation, aidan, lead-free petrol, et) () biher "people and other species (feminism, consumerism, ‘hima gts, protetion of endangered species), {o) our'net selves and our outer gods (mediation, conscous- ‘se rasing, spiral awareness In addition, there is a recognition and an acceptance of the fact {lator gw existences determined nt only by our relationship With thore tree aspect of our experence, but that chere is & ‘Reiproclimpect on us, the environment, other people and ‘So gl influence and lect us ina fundamental way. Medicine, with its focus on Wentfying and ‘ering’ diene, eS sltering, i inteately involved with many ofthese fost, As I shall outline inthe flowing chapters, his involve~ ‘eutps now entered a new phase where the problems can 10 Trager be ignored, Tall detall some ofthese problems Bist REESE dtacribing how the greening process ha already begun Fave an impact on many aspects of medical care.