Professional Documents
Culture Documents
POSTMODERN PROMOTION OF
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE*
Dnal P. OMathna
tural movement. The philosophy is sometimes impenetrable, at other times incomprehensible, apparently
deliberately so. One philosopher put it this way: Postmodernism is long on attitude and short on argument . . .
[and] remains conveniently ill-defined.1 Regardless,
many postmodern catch-phrases have caught on as popular sound-bites: Create your own reality. Question
authority. If it works for you, thats all that matters.
Find yourself within. Theres no right answer. It
doesnt seem to matter what these slogans mean, or if
they mean anything. Many in society have drifted into
accepting postmodernism without ever hearing the term
or knowing what it entails. The growing acceptance of alternative medicine within the healthcare system stands
as a prime example of how a nebulous philosophy like
postmodernism can have significant practical effects. It
stands as testimony to the fact that beliefs have consequences, as the following true story demonstrates.
A woman in her thirties awakens one morning with
severe abdominal pain. The intensity of the pain itself
makes it difficult for her to get out of bed. She takes
some painkillers and tries to sleep, but the pain persists.
She gets more and more worried, so she calls her doctor.
A nurse answers and courteously inquires about her
symptoms and recent activities.
22
PARADIGM SHIFT
Postmodernism calls for a radical restructuring of the
way we think. Postmodernists argue that reality is not as
rigid as we once thought. They claim that the idea of objective reality is just a metaphor to help us communicate.
23
24
Postmodernists often claim to speak on behalf of a marginalized or oppressed group. When talking on postmodern nursing, Jean Watson emphasized how the medical model had marginalized nursing and its caring
model. Other nurses find common ground with alternative therapists in their similar marginalization: To
maintain its dominant position, orthodox medicine subordinated its essential counterpart, nursing, and excluded or limited the natural therapies, constructed as
fraudulent competitors.20 In postmodernism, beliefs are
socially constructed, not rationally established and supported. The rejection of any therapy is not viewed as an
evidence-based decision, but a power play. Watson
claims that important knowledge about health care has
been systematically excluded from human consciousness by biases of the modern era.21 Westerners do not
commonly believe that life energy fields sustain everything only because modern researchers have marginalized this view.22 Similarly, Ayurvedic medicine has supposedly been suppressed due to centuries of foreign rule
in India.23 Yet today 75% of the preparations recom-
25
the establishment. Postmodern ideology thus outweighs physical evidence. An influential nursing textbook recommends accepting TT as a way to celebrate
the diversity among us. . . . Therapeutic Touch is rooted
in Eastern philosophy. Because of our Western culture
orientation, we search for research to explain its effects.
To the Eastern mind, if it works, one doesnt need research to prove how it works. The Eastern mind doesnt
care how it works, only that it does.35 No mention is
made of how we know it works.
Postmodern ways of thinking about science and
medicine menace public health. Chopra revels in this
state of affairs when he says that once a person has accepted the Ayurvedic way of thinking, he will no longer
be bound by societys notions of what you should be
doing, saying, thinking, or feeling.36 Snake oil, miracle
cures, bloodletting, and the like will flourish when any
form of medical care is not required to demonstrate the
validity of its claims.
Reliance on Experience
26
CONCLUSION
Postmodernism erects barricades against criticism of alternative medicine. Part of postmodernism is the rejection of an objective reality. Science is based on the pursuit of the most accurate description and explanation of
an underlying reality postmodernists claim does not
exist. Little wonder the two approaches collide. Ironically, postmodern proponents of alternative medicine
retain their interest in scientific studies, but only to the
extent that they support their preconceived beliefs.
When the results dont match their expectations, the
scientific paradigm is critiqued. By attempting to discredit the possibility of unbiased, repeatable, and con-
REFERENCES
11. Lilla M. The politics of Jacques Derrida. New York Review of Books. 1998;45:3641.
12. Wetzel MS, Eisenberg DM, Kaptchuk TJ. Courses
involving complementary and alternative medicine at US
medical schools. JAMA. 1998;280:784787.
13. Joy WB. Joys Way: A Map for the Transformational
Journey: An Introduction to the Potentials for Healing with Body
Energies. Los Angeles, CA: J. P. Tarcher; 1982: 19.
14. Ibid., 20.
15. Krieger D. Accepting Your Power to Heal: The Personal
Practice of Therapeutic Touch. Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Company;
1993: 67.
16. Watson J. Postmodern nursing. Presentation at
Mount Carmel College of Nursing, Columbus, OH. 24 October 1994.
17. Chopra D. Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum
Alternative to Growing Old New York, NY: Harmony Books;
1993: 5, 7.
18. Hernandez M. Integrating Alternative Medicine &
Managed Care. Pre-Conference Symposium at the National
Managed Health Care Conference 1997 (INFOCUS, 4 April
1997); audiocassette #320-S3B.
19. Levin JS, Coreil J. New Age healing in the U.S.
Soc Sci Med. 1986;23:889897.
27
28
35. Carpenito LJ. Nursing Diagnosis: Application to Clinical Practice, 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott; 1995:356.
36. Chopra D. Perfect Health: The Complete Mind/Body
Guide. New York, NY: Harmony Books; 1990: 24.
37. Chopra, Ageless Body, 261.
38. Ibid., 99100.
39. Krieger, Accepting Your Power to Heal, 8.
40. Jarvis WT. Quackery: a national scandal. Clin Chem.
1992;38:15741586.