Hindu Medicine c5.s3.84

c5.s3.84

idea that has again and again assumed command over natural philosophy and that traditional Western learning has in common with Hindu medicine. For the assumption of a living principle constitutes an important check on materialistic views, such as for instance the concept of dietetics, as it was understood not so long ago, and according to which food was considered as dead matter, mere fuel that serves to heat the machine of the living organism,—a very limited view indeed, where food is evaluated solely on the basis of its content of fat and albumen. A boundless vision of life, on the other hand, acts as a kind of romantic counteragent against merely mechanistic theories; it has inspired the detailed and exact investigations of modern scientists who believe that we cannot expect to keep alive by feeding exclusively on devitalized and sterile substance.