Spiritual_Wellness_Holistic_Health_and_the_Practic

40 Philosophical Foundations of Health Education
Williams, the Socratic view of the body as a “ prison from which the disciplined mind
should escape ” was the concept developed by the early Christians which “ became to
them such a conviction that release from the flesh was the only way for happiness. ”
Smuts believed that science rehabilitated the body and established the premise for
its integration with mind within the whole person. He considered that holism was the
antithesis of dualism (1926, p. 266).
There is consensus between Smuts and Oberteuffer regarding mind/body relations.
Oberteuffer (1938) writes that his perspective rests on the premise expounded by
Aldous Huxley who stated “ mind and body form a single organic whole. What happens
in the mind affects the body and what happens in the body affects the mind. ” Oberteuffer
(1945) considered that his view of an integrated mind and body was in harmony with
John Dewey, who stated: “ It is the whole child we are educating —not just memory
centers. ” According to Oberteuffer (1953), “ mind and body disappear as recognizable
realities and in their stead comes the acknowledgment … [of] a whole being. ” His viewpoint
is similar to Smuts ’ holistic concept that in essence there is no relationship
between mind and body because “ all such action is synthetic and holistic . . . and no
explanation which ignores the whole … can be considered satisfactory ” (p. 272).
There is consistency between Smuts ’ and Oberteuffer ’ s rejection of dualistic philosophies.
Smuts rejected the philosophies of vitalism and mechanism because their
inherent dualism resulted in life and mind as nullities. Oberteuffer rejected the early
Puritanic philosophy inherent in schools and colleges begun originally to train the mind.
According to Oberteuffer (1945),
the early form of American education was cut in the form of devotion to a dualistic
intellectualism in which mind was an entity unrelated to the remainder of the
organism.
Smuts considered that the philosophy of holism resolved the mind/body problem.
He believed
the real explanation [was] that Mind and Body are elements within the whole of
Pers onality . . . . [T]he most important factor of all in the situation . . . is holistic
Personality itself. (p. 262)
The perspectives of Williams and Oberteuffer do not contradict Smuts ’ holistic
resolution of the mind/body problem. There is fundamental consensus and consistency
among the views presented.
THE VIEW OF HUMAN PERSONALITY
Smuts contends that within the history of creative evolution the human personality
emerged as the last of the five fundamental phases of holistic synthesis in nature. It
was the fastest whole of evolution based upon the prior structures of matter (physical
mixture and chemical compounds), life (organisms) and mind (conscious and unconscious
central control).