Philosophical foundations in ancient Indian medicine: Science, philosophy, and ethics in 'Caraka-samhita'

To anyone even marginally interested in the contemporary field of health care, it would not come as a great surprise that for the past few decades the health care system has been in a stage of crisis. To understand the deeper causes of such a crisis, it may help us if we explicate the ethical and philosophical assumptions of a medical system.; In order to determine the nature and possibility of the interrelations of medical science, ethics and philosophy, the ancient Indian medical text, Caraka-samhita, is closely examined.; Indian medical knowledge is known as Ayurveda. This term is made up of two words, ayur and veda, the former meaning 'life' and the latter 'knowledge.' Veda, as a collection of Indian scriptural texts, is perhaps a more familiar word in the West. Caraka was a redactor of a medical treatise known as Caraka-samhita. Most of the scholars place Caraka in the period around 100 A.D.; Caraka considers 'mind,' 'body' and 'spirit' as a tripod supporting the world structure. Caraka clearly defines 'long life' as the goal of medical science. Recognition of 'spirit' and 'mind' as constituents of a 'person' fundamentally influences, not only the etiology of disease and a rationale of treatment, but also medical ethics.; Caraka's approach to seeking a balance within the body and the mind, between an individual and the rest of the world, is born of his philosophical world view. He is most closely aligned with Samkhya, and, to a lesser extent, with Vaisesika schools of Indian philosophy, Caraka's philosophy makes his medicine and ethics 'holistic' in a most radical sense.