Information on the following pages comes the "Chiropractic Text Book" by Stephenson
"Chiropractic is a philosophy, science and art of things natural; a system of adjusting the segments of the spinal column by hand only, for the correction of the cause of dis-ease."
B.J Palmer
Art. 3. Science, Art and Philosophy
The definition of Chiropractic quoted in the foregoing, states that it is a philosophy, science and art of things natural. Put simply, that means, "what it is ,how it is done, and why." Science tells us what it is; art tells us how it is done, and philosophy, the "why" of the other two. According to that, then philosophy must tell us about both science and art.
Art. 6. Philosophy
"Literally the love of wisdom; in actual usage, the knowledge of phenomena as explained by, or resolved into, causes and reasons, powers and laws."
"Philosophy conceived as a branch of learning is, in the narrowest sense, nearly equivalent to metaphysics, but usually is understood as including all the mental and moral sciences, namely logic, psychology, ethics, etc."
"In more general application, and usually with the or a, philosophy denotes a systematic body of general conceptions, ordinarily with the implication of their practical application."
(Webster)
Art. 7. Chiropractic Philosophy
Chiropractic Philosophy is the application of the foregoing definitions to chiropractic as "the systematic body of conceptions... with the implication of their practical application."
It is the explanation of Chiropractic. It explains "the why" of everything Chiropractic. The explanation of the cause and effect. It embraces the chiropractic view of all the studies concerned in its science.
Chiropractic is a radical science. It is a right about face in method and in reasoning. It is contrary to the methods of healing in common use in the world. For that reason, it is misunderstood by those who have not had its benefits or are ignorant of its principles. Because of this wide difference, it is not always understood by all those who practice it and many of these persons doubt, because of their misunderstanding. However, all chiropractors who really adjust the cause of disease in the spine, do use philosophy to some extent, whether they believe it or not; whether they know it or not. Any one knowing the real meaning of philosophy as set forth by Webster's Dictionary, knows that any human activity has a philosophy.
Art. 8. Chiropractic is a Deductive Science
Chiropractic is a deductive science. The deductions are based upon a major premise that life is intelligent; that there is a Intelligent Creator, Who created matter, attends to its existence and gives to it all that it has.
Art. 22. Principles
Definition:"A source, or origin; that from which everything proceeds; fundamental substance or energy; primordial substance; ultimate element or cause."
"A fundamental truth; a comprehensive law or doctrin from which others are derived, or on which others are founded; a general truth; an elementary proposition; a maxim; an axiom; a postulate."
"A settled rule of action; a governing law of conduct; an opinion or belief which excercises a directing influence on the life and behavior; a rule (usually, a right rule) of conduct consistently directing one's action." (Webster)
The principles of a science are its governing laws. These may be the fundamental truths upon which it is founded, or the governing rules of conduct or operation. Any human doctrine or belief has its fundamentals upon which it is based; any human activity has its settled rules of action which guides these activities in the most expeditious and efficient manner.
Chiropractic like other sciences, has many principles. These are and numbered for convenience so that their application to things can be seen. They are arranged in an order which goes from the general to the specific.