title: [The meaning of wholeness in medical philosophy].
abstract: Organisms are "wholes" insofar as togetherness with others is essential for their development and identity. The female egg is the first and original environment into which a human individual develops. The three main spheres of holistic togetherness in which man further becomes himself in joining the world are (1) psychic togetherness of the organs, (2) social togetherness with fellow human beings and (3) natural togetherness or connaturality, in the whole of nature. Health and disease can originate on any of these levels. On the first one psychosomatic experiences tend to be confirmed by recent results of psychoneuroimmunology. On the second level health or pathogenicity of private or professional social environments tend to be much better known in social medicine (public health) than in medical practice. Corresponding research on the third level is much less advanced. Medical care can be secondary to cultivating social and natural togetherness.
authors.affiliation: Charitas-Bischoff-Treppe 9, 22587 Hamburg, Germany. klaus.meyer-abich@uni-essen.de
authors.forename: Klaus Michael
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Meyer-Abich
mesh_terms: D006694:Holistic Health; D006801:Humans; D019368:Nature; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D012931:Social Environment