The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c4.3

c4.3

The same should have been the case with regard to Ayurvedic explanations. It gives evidence of a rational scientific spirit, rarely seen in other civilisations of the world. But these explanations have for their basis a knowledge, as yet rudimentary and incomplete in so far as the real conditions of the production of these phenomena were concerned; they cannot, therefore, prevail against those which today rest on much more detailed information and which will not be valid before those of the future, the latter being based on much more complete knowledge. Making claims to the contrary is not only to naively mix up concepts and theories which, though applicable to the same phenomena, have altogether different bases, but is also to give to the detractors of Ayurveda a chance of denigrating its partisans as making unjustifiable claims for the same. One should not plead a good cause with bad arguments.