Obesity and the vitality of food in Finland, ca. 1950-1970.

Mainstream and alternative nutrition doctrines have crucially shaped our understanding of the vital aspects of and forces in human nutrition. Drawing upon a diverse array of sources, this article delves into cultural, social, and scientific conceptions of vital nutrition and how they evolved in relation to the Finnish obesity discourse from the 1950s to the 1970s. The Association to Combat Obesity (ACO), which brought together nutrition scientists, food faddists and laypeople, was the driving force of these debates. In the context of this article, food was perceived to influence the vitality of individuals and nations through its effect on body weight. Obese bodies seemed to conflict with both utopian visions of bodily transcendence and the ideals of wellbeing in modern health sciences. This work highlights the ideological continuities between interwar and postwar nutrition debates as well as the persistent tensions between scientific advancements and alternative nutrition philosophies. They have molded the conceptions of vitality and attitudes towards obesity. Concludingly, we suggest that the social responses to obesity have been influenced by the condition's perceived adverse relationship to vitality, in which fat has acted as a persistent reminder of corporeality, death, and decay.

The Winding Road from Origin to Emergence (of Life).

Humanity's strive to understand why and how life appeared on planet Earth dates back to prehistoric times. At the beginning of the 19th century, empirical biology started to tackle this question yielding both Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution and the paradigm that the crucial trigger putting life on its tracks was the appearance of organic molecules. In parallel to these developments in the biological sciences, physics and physical chemistry saw the fundamental laws of thermodynamics being unraveled. Towards the end of the 19th century and during the first half of the 20th century, the tensions between thermodynamics and the "organic-molecules-paradigm" became increasingly difficult to ignore, culminating in Erwin Schrödinger's 1944 formulation of a thermodynamics-compliant vision of life and, consequently, the prerequisites for its appearance. We will first review the major milestones over the last 200 years in the biological and the physical sciences, relevant to making sense of life and its origins and then discuss the more recent reappraisal of the relative importance of metal ions vs. organic molecules in performing the essential processes of a living cell. Based on this reassessment and the modern understanding of biological free energy conversion (aka bioenergetics), we consider that scenarios wherein life emerges from an abiotic chemiosmotic process are both thermodynamics-compliant and the most parsimonious proposed so far.

Bergson, Pan(en)theism, and 'Being-in-Life'.

Recent philosophy has witnessed a renewed interest in the works and ideas of Henri Bergson (1859-1941). But while contemporary scholarship has sought to rehabilitate Bergson's insights on time, memory, consciousness, and human freedom, comparatively little attention has been paid to Bergson's relationship to pantheism. By revisiting the 'pantheism' controversy surrounding Bergsonian philosophy during Bergson's lifetime, this article argues that the panentheistic notion of 'being-in-God' can serve as an illuminating framework for the interpretation of Bergson's philosophy. By examining the 'pantheist' readings of Bergson and comparing and contrasting Bergson's philosophy of life with Spinoza's panentheistic metaphysics, this paper shows that an account of 'being-in-Life' is key to Bergson's metaphysical outlook as well as his account of philosophy as a practice of 'intuitive' thinking. In so doing, this paper highlights some of the implicit religious motifs not only in Bergson's metaphysical outlook but also in his conception of the task of philosophy.

Physicochemical origins of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms.

Origins research currently rests on a vitalistic foundation and requires reconceptualization. From a cellular perspective, prokaryotic cells grow and divide in stable, colloidal processes, throughout which the cytoplasm remains crowded (concentrated) with closely interacting proteins and nucleic acids. Their functional stability is ensured by repulsive and attractive non-covalent forces, especially van der Waals forces, screened electrostatic forces, and hydrogen bonding (hydration and the hydrophobic effect). On average, biomacromolecules are crowded at above 15% volume fraction, surrounded by up to 3 nm layer of aqueous electrolyte at ionic strength above 0.01 molar; they are energized by biochemical reactions coupled to nutrient environments. During cellular growth, non-covalent molecular forces and biochemical reactions stabilize the cytoplasm as a two-phase, colloidal system comprising vectorially structured cytogel and dilute cytosol. From a geochemical perspective, Earth's rotation kept prebiotic molecules in continuous cyclic disequilibria in Usiglio-type intertidal pools, rich in potassium and magnesium ions, the last cations to precipitate from evaporatig seawater. These ions impart biochemical functionality to extant proteins and RNAs. The prebiotic molecules were repeatedly purified by phase separation in response to tidal drying and rewetting; they were chemically evolving as briny, carbonaceous inclusions in tidal sediments until the crowding transition allowed chemical evolution to proceeed toward Woesian progenotes, the Last Universal Common Ancestors (LUCAs) and the first prokaryotes. These cellular and geochemical processes are summarized as a jigsaw puzzle of the emerging and evolving prokaryotes. Their unavoidable cyclic fusions and rehydrations along Archaean coastlines initiated the emergence of complex Precambrian eukaryotes.

Physiology, Vitalism, and the Contest for Body and Soul in the Antebellum United States.

In the early nineteenth century, physiology became an increasingly popular and powerful science in the United States. Religious controversy over the nature of human vitality animated much of this interest. On one side of these debates stood Protestant apologists who wedded an immaterialist vitalism to their belief in an immaterial, immortal soul - and therefore to their dreams of a Christian republic. On the other side, religious skeptics argued for a materialist vitalism that excluded anything immaterial from human life, aspiring thereby to eliminate religious interference in the progress of science and society. Both sides hoped that by claiming physiology for their vision of human nature they might direct the future of religion in the US. Ultimately, they failed to realize these ambitions, but their contest posed a dilemma late nineteenth-century physiologists felt compelled to solve: how should they comprehend the relationship between life, body, and soul? Eager to undertake laboratory work and leave metaphysical questions behind, these researchers solved the problem by restricting their work to the body while leaving spiritual matters to preachers. In attempting to escape the vitalism and soul questions, late nineteenth-century Americans thus created a division of labor that shaped the history of medicine and religion for the following century.

William Preyer and the origin of the term biomechanics / William Preyer y el origen del término Biomecánica

Many Biomechanics texts and courses begin with a historical introduction. This usually describes the contributions of a large number of people who, over many centuries, have been fundamental to the development of this science. In these presentations it is often stated that the term Biomechanik (Biomechanics) appears to have been used for the first time in 1887 by Dr. Moriz Benedikt, in Über Mathematische Morphologie und Biomechanik. However, this term was previously used by the physiologist William Preyer in 1873 and 1883. In this short article, we show these first mentions and frame them in the context of other terms, Biostatik (Biostatics) and Biodynamik (Biodynamics), used at that time. Finally, as a secondary result of the research, we found what could be the first textbook that specifically addresses Biomechanics as a new object of scientific knowledge.(AU)

Muchos textos y cursos de Biomecánica comienzan con una introducción histórica. Esta suele describir las aportaciones de un gran número de personas que, a lo largo de muchos siglos, han sido fundamentales para el desarrollo de esta ciencia. En estas presentaciones se afirma a menudo que el término Biomechanik (Biomecánica) parece haber sido utilizado por primera vez en 1887 por el Dr. Moriz Benedikt, en Über Mathematische Morphologie und Biomechanik. Sin embargo, este término fue utilizado previamente por el fisiólogo William Preyer en 1873 y 1883. En este breve artículo, mostramos estas primeras menciones y las enmarcamos en el contexto de otros términos, Biostatik (Biostática) y Biodynamik (Biodinámica), utilizados en ese momento. Finalmente, como resultado secundario de la investigación, encontramos el que podría ser el primer libro de texto que aborde específicamente la Biomecánica como un nuevo objeto de conocimiento científico.(AU)

The third-way third wave and the enduring appeal of bioexceptionalism.

We may induce from a longue durée examination of Anglo-American History of Biology that the impulse to reject reduc - tionism persists and will continue to percolate cyclically. This impulse I deem "bioexceptionalism": an intuition, stance, attitude, or activating metaphor that the study of living beings requires explanations in addition to exclusively bottom-up causal explanations and the research programs constructed upon that bottom-up philosophical foundation by non-organismal biologists, biochemists, and biophysicists - the explanations, in other words, that Wadding - ton (1977) humorously termed the "Conventional Wisdom of the Dominant Group, or cowdung." Bioexceptionalism might indicate an ontological assertion, like vitalism. Yet most often in the last century, it has been defined by a variety of methodological or even sociological positions. On three occasions in the interval from the late nineteenth century to the present, a small but significant group of practicing biologists and allies in other research disciplines in the UK and US adopted a species of bioexceptionalism, rejecting the dominant explanatory philosophy of reductionistic mechanism. Yet they also rejected the vitalist alternative. We can refer to their subset of bioexceptionalism as a "Third-Way" approach, though participants at the time called it by a variety of names, including "organicism." Today's appeals to a Third-Way are but the latest eruption of this older dissensus and retain at least heuristic value apart from any explanatory success.

The Conatus Doctrine: A Rational Interpretation of Innate Intelligence.

Objective: The objective of this article is to reinterpret metaphysical concepts found in chiropractic historic teachings by comparing these to the philosophical system of Baruch Spinoza. Discussion: Universal intelligence and innate intelligence are components of the historic and traditional philosophy of chiropractic. These concepts have offered a unique clinical perspective at the cost of committing to an a priori assumption that some see as untenable. The meaning of universal and innate intelligence may be reinterpreted through an understanding of life and health as offered by the conatus doctrine of Baruch Spinoza. The conatus doctrine defines within a formal system the striving and endurance of living beings to remain in unique forms. The reinterpretation offered in this article provides a rationally defensible concept closely tied to contemporary definitions of vitalism, which see life as potentiality striving against inertia and entropy. In its striving, life manifests itself by originating meaning out of information. Conclusion: Though the product of early-modern rationalism, Spinoza's conatus doctrine offers a contemporary interpretation of an aspect of living beings congruent with established notions within the philosophy of chiropractic. Concepts in Spinoza's work that concern substance and monism offer clarifying perspectives on concepts in the philosophy of chiropractic that may help resolve conflicts concerning spiritualism and naturalism.

The site of Anthropocene and colonial entanglement: reviewing The Nutmeg's Curse.

Amitav Ghosh's The Nutmeg's Curse (2021) offers an incisive template of the intersecting history of Anthropocene and colonisation. The parables retold by Ghosh transport us to a sequestered past obscured by a Eurocentric discourse on colonial modernity. However, it is the same history which is now falling apart to reveal the devastating trajectory of the omnicidal enterprise carried out by the earliest colonising forces. The mapping of anthropogenic activities also helps us identify the locus of the philosophy that has bolstered the impetus of these forces. On one hand, the mechanistic view of life propagated by the colonisers had initiated the inception of colonial modernity; on the other hand, its boomeranging effect coupled with the "great acceleration" (133) has reached a tipping point leading to the present-day environmental crisis. Ghosh's book is a percipient warning for denialists who believe that the earth is an inert entity and that non-humans are brute forces to be subjugated. To counter this climate crisis, Ghosh comes up with some reversal strategies in which storytellers and indigenous communities may play an active role in restoring "Gaia" with all its vitality.

Vitalism, Holism, and Metaphorical Dynamics of Hans Spemann's "Organizer" in the Interwar Period.

This paper aims to provide a fresh historical perspective on the debates on vitalism and holism in Germany by analyzing the work of the zoologist Hans Spemann (1869-1941) in the interwar period. Following up previous historical studies, it takes the controversial question about Spemann's affinity to vitalistic approaches as a starting point. The focus is on Spemann's holistic research style, and on the shifting meanings of Spemann's concept of an organizer. It is argued that the organizer concept unfolded multiple layers of meanings (biological, philosophical, and popular) during the 1920s and early 1930s. A detailed analysis of the metaphorical dynamics in Spemann's writings sheds light on the subtle vitalistic connotations of his experimental work. How Spemann's work was received by contemporary scientists and philosophers is analyzed briefly, and Spemann's holism is explored in the broader historical context of the various issues about reductionism and holism and related methodological questions that were so prominently discussed not only in Germany in the 1920s.

Eugène Bouchut's (1818-1891) Early Anticipation of the Concept of Brain Death.

The conventional historical account of the concept of brain death credits developments and discoveries of the twentieth century with its inception, emphasizing the role of technological developments and professional conferences, notably the 1968 Ad Hoc Committee of the Harvard Medical School to Examine the Definition of Brain Death. This essay argues that the French physician Eugène Bouchut anticipated the concept of brain death as early as 1846. Correspondence with Bouchut's understanding of brain death and one important contemporary concept of brain death is established then contrasted with current trends of defining death as the death of the brain. The philosophical factors that influenced Bouchut and the later developments of concepts of brain death are considered, with special reference to mechanistic philosophy and vitalism.

Vitalism and cognition in a conscious universe.

According to the current scientific paradigm, what we call 'life', 'mind', and 'consciousness' are considered epiphenomenal occurrences, or emergent properties or functions of matter and energy. Science does not associate these with an inherent and distinct existence beyond a materialistic/energetic conception. 'Life' is a word pointing at cellular and multicellular processes forming organisms capable of specific functions and skills. 'Mind' is a cognitive ability emerging from a matrix of complex interactions of neuronal processes, while 'consciousness' is an even more elusive concept, deemed a subjective epiphenomenon of brain activity. Historically, however, this has not always been the case, even in the scientific and academic context. Several prominent figures took vitalism seriously, while some schools of Western philosophical idealism and Eastern traditions promoted conceptions in which reality is reducible to mind or consciousness rather than matter. We will argue that current biological sciences did not falsify these alternative paradigms and that some forms of vitalism could be linked to some forms of idealism if we posit life and cognition as two distinct aspects of consciousness preeminent over matter. However, we will not argue in favor of vitalistic and idealistic conceptions. Rather, contrary to a physicalist doctrine, these were and remain coherent worldviews and cannot be ruled out by modern science.

Reflections on the fundamental nature of homeopathic potencies: Plasma, Langmuir Adsorption and Vitalism

There is a pressing need to develop methods and approaches that will identify the fundamental nature of homeopathic potencies. Aims: To bring together recent basic research on potencies, especially that using solvatochromic dyes, and to supplement these results with reliable observations made by Hahnemann and his contemporaries from the very beginnings of homeopathy, together with a detailed examination of the process of trituration and succussion coupled to dilution, in order to significantly limit the number of possible explanations as to the identity of potencies. Methodology: A mixture of lab based and literature studies such that as far as possible all verified and substantiated observations about homeopathic potencies have been examined. Results and Discussion: An understanding of the fundamental nature of homeopathic potencies that includes all known and accepted observations (in vitro, in vivoand clinical) is not realistic without embracing hypotheses involving the emergent properties of complex systems and in particular, vitalistic concepts. Using a vitalistic model it is possible to explain a wide range of seemingly unrelated phenomena -such as the polarising effect of potencies on solvatochromic dyes, the ability to use a range of materials such as water, lactose and cellulose as carriers of potencies, the administering of potencies by olfaction, the antidoting effect of camphor on potency action, the non-linear dependence of potency strength on volume as well as succussion level, the oscillatory behaviour of potencies and experimenter/observer/practitioner effects. Conclusion: A hypothesis in which homeopathic potencies can be seen as self-actuating and autonomous plasma generated by trituration and/or succussion and carried according to Langmuir adsorption models fits the known observations about potencies.

"What is Dead May Not Die": Locating Marginalized Concepts Among Ordinary Biologists.

Historians and biologists identify the debate between mechanists and vitalists over the nature of life itself with the arguments of Driesch, Loeb, and other prominent voices. But what if the conversation was broader and the consequences deeper for the field? Following the suspicions of Joseph Needham in the 1930s and Francis Crick in the 1960s, we deployed tools of the digital humanities to an old problem in the history of biology. We analyzed over 31,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers and learned that bioexceptionalism participated in a robust discursive landscape throughout subfields of the life sciences, occupied even by otherwise unknown biologists.

"Rusticall chymistry": Alchemy, saltpeter projects, and experimental fertilizers in seventeenth-century English agriculture.

As the primary ingredient in gunpowder, saltpeter was an extraordinarily important commodity in the early modern world. Historians of science and technology have long studied its military applications but have rarely focused on its uses outside of warfare. Due to its potential effectiveness as a fertilizer, saltpeter was also an integral component of experimental agricultural reform movements in the early modern period and particularly in seventeenth-century England. This became possible for several reasons: the creation of a thriving domestic saltpeter production industry in the second half of the sixteenth century; the development of vitalist alchemical theories that sought a unified explanation for the "growth" of minerals, metals, and plants; the rise of experimental natural philosophy; and the mid-seventeenth-century dominance of the English East India Company in the saltpeter trade, which allowed agricultural reformers to repurpose domestically produced saltpeter in agriculturally productive ways. This paper argues that the Hartlib Circle - a loose network of natural philosophers and social reformers - adopted vitalist matter theories and the practical, experimental techniques of alchemists to transform agriculture into a more productive enterprise. Though their grandiose plans never came to fruition, their experimental trials to develop artificial fertilizers played an early role in the origins and development of saline chemistry, agronomy, and the British Agricultural Revolution.

Contribuições da racionalidade sensível de Maffesoli aos fundamentos das práticas territoriais e comunitárias na interface saúde/assistência social / Contributions of Maffesoli's sensitive rationality to the foundations of territorial and community practices at the health care/social support interface

Resumo Michel Maffesoli é mundialmente conhecido como pensador da pós-modernidade, do tribalismo como uma nova forma de socialidade e da razão sensível, no contexto do que caracteriza como uma mudança epistêmica ou paradigmática emergente. Apesar de não refletir sobre o tema das práticas assistenciais, ao trazer uma leitura sociológica que destaca o doméstico, o localismo e o tribalismo, e fazer referências à saúde pela perspectiva da potência pessoal e social, neste ensaio argumenta-se que as ideias-força extraídas de seu pensamento podem oferecer contribuições aos fundamentos epistemológicos, ético-políticos e teórico-metodológicos das ações de profissionais que trabalham na interface saúde/assistência social e que atuam no espaço-tempo da vida cotidiana em um dado território. Pois, ao apresentar um logos que valida uma razão afetiva e que toma os locais de vida cotidiana como espaço-tempo de vinculações e desenvolvimento de potencialidades, um ethos ecosófico de respeito às pessoas, à natureza e à diversidade das formas e modos de vida, seu pensamento pode ainda oferecer um quadro dos lugares de habitar pessoal e do conviver coletivamente, que podem vir a ser cenários de práticas assistenciais interdisciplinares e interprofissionais (praxis) afinadas a uma racionalidade sensível, orientada pela e para a potencialização da vida.

Abstract Michel Maffesoli is known worldwide as a thinker of postmodernity, of tribalism as a new form of sociality and sensitive reason, within an emerging epistemic or paradigmatic change. Despite not reflecting on care practices, by bringing a sociological reading that highlights the domestic, localism and tribalism, and referencing health from the perspective of personal and social potency, this essay argues that the force-ideas extracted from his thought can contribute to the epistemological, ethical-political and theoretical-methodological foundations of the actions of professionals who work at the health care/social support interface and who act in the space-time of everyday life in a given territory. By presenting a logos that validates a sensitive reason and that takes the places of daily life as space-time of connections and development of potentialities, an ecosophical ethos of respect for people, nature and the diversity of forms and ways of life, his thought can also outline places of personal and collective dwelling, which can become scenarios of interdisciplinary and interprofessional care practices (praxis) in tune with a sensitive rationality, guided by and for the potentiation of life.

Is a Pulpless Tooth a Dead Tooth - An Age-Old Controversy that Lingers Today.

Leonard Koecker was outspoken in 1821 when he criticized the procedure of pulp extirpation and tooth retention, a procedure that had been advocated and practiced by Fauchard and others. He again registered his thoughts on this issue in 1826 in the publication of his textbook entitled "Principles of Dental Surgery". He claimed the tooth was dead and a repugnant foreign body that impacted on the surrounding living tissues. This controversial position ensued for close to a century, with advocates for Koecker's position, especially in the time of the Focal Infection and those opposed who favored a biological/scientific approach to this issue. Although today the desire to retain teeth through pulpal extirpation and proper root canal procedures is the treatment of choice when possible, it is common globally to frame the pulpless tooth as a dead tooth by both the dental professional and laypersons alike.

A Vitalism Ethos and the Chiropractic Health Care Paradigm.

OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this article are to describe the development of vitalism from its earliest Hellenistic form to that of a contemporary vitalism ethos and to propose the importance of vitalism in the philosophy of chiropractic and the chiropractic health care paradigm. DISCUSSION: A review of the history of vitalism is offered to clarify the use of the term within the chiropractic literature and to provide a defensible position for vitalism as a foundation for future research in the philosophy of chiropractic. The founder of chiropractic, Daniel David Palmer, drew heavily from spiritualism and vitalism in his construction of early chiropractic philosophy. As chiropractic practice and philosophy have evolved, that vitalistic foundation has become a polemic used by factions within the profession, resulting in political challenges. The controversy within chiropractic mirrors similar debates within academic philosophy regarding vitalism. The philosophy of vitalism has developed beyond its classical constructs, emerging as an ethos amenable to informing research within clinical applications and a perspective capable of informing the identity of chiropractic. CONCLUSION: Exploring the broad historical context of vitalism may allow for an understanding of the plurality of vitalist ideas and a clarification of the concept within chiropractic literature. Adopting vitalism within the philosophy of chiropractic as an ethos based on the work of Georges Canguilhem provides a view of life as fundamentally original, adaptable, and unpredictable, and therefore not sufficiently understood in purely reductionist terms.

Vitalism in contemporary chiropractic: a help or a hinderance?

BACKGROUND: Chiropractic emerged in 1895 and was promoted as a viable health care substitute in direct competition with the medical profession. This was an era when there was a belief that one cause and one cure for all disease would be discovered. The chiropractic version was a theory that most diseases were caused by subluxated (slightly displaced) vertebrae interfering with "nerve vibrations" (a supernatural, vital force) and could be cured by adjusting (repositioning) vertebrae, thereby removing the interference with the body's inherent capacity to heal. DD Palmer, the originator of chiropractic, established chiropractic based on vitalistic principles. Anecdotally, the authors have observed that many chiropractors who overtly claim to be "vitalists" cannot define the term. Therefore, we sought the origins of vitalism and to examine its effects on chiropractic today. DISCUSSION: Vitalism arose out of human curiosity around the biggest questions: Where do we come from? What is life? For some, life was derived from an unknown and unknowable vital force. For others, a vital force was a placeholder, a piece of knowledge not yet grasped but attainable. Developments in science have demonstrated there is no longer a need to invoke vitalistic entities as either explanations or hypotheses for biological phenomena. Nevertheless, vitalism remains within chiropractic. In this examination of vitalism within chiropractic we explore the history of vitalism, vitalism within chiropractic and whether a vitalistic ideology is compatible with the legal and ethical requirements for registered health care professionals such as chiropractors. CONCLUSION: Vitalism has had many meanings throughout the centuries of recorded history. Though only vaguely defined by chiropractors, vitalism, as a representation of supernatural force and therefore an untestable hypothesis, sits at the heart of the divisions within chiropractic and acts as an impediment to chiropractic legitimacy, cultural authority and integration into mainstream health care.