In the 18th Century the scientists believed that the there was a “vital principle” compounds, which made them organic. They also believed that inorganic compounds didn’t have that “vital principle”. The “vital principle” also plays a big role in the Vitalism, were it was believed that the origin and phenomena of life were due to this doctrine.
The word Vitalism was first used by Aristotle and was the Greek word for breathing, life or soul so could compare Vitalism to having a soul and only if you have a soul your living and therefore are organic. The scientists also believed that you couldn’t create something organic from inorganic compounds as Vitalism can’t be created from inorganic compounds.
Louis Pasteur was a French microbiologist and chemist and he was famous for his discovery of the principles of pasteurization, microbial fermentation and vaccinations. He believed in the theory of Vitalism and even provided evidence for it with the process of fermentation. He said that fermentation can only occur if living organisms are present and in the absence of oxygen. Louis Pasteur called this “life without air”. He rejected the idea of other scientists, who claimed that fermentation happened due to chemical agents or catalyst and concluded that it was a “vital action”.
The first person to provide evidence against the theory of Vitalism was a German chemist called Friedrich Wöhler. With using silver isocyanate and ammonium chloride he synthesized urea artificially. This was evidence against Vitalism as urea is an organic compound and he made it with just using inorganic compounds. No vital principle was involved in this process. Due to this discovery it was clear that other organic compounds would also be able to make without the “vital principle”. Wöhler’s discovery however didn’t cause all scientists to abandon the idea of Vitalism. They needed more than just this one discovery to stop believing in something that they thought was true for over hundred years. Nowadays scientists reject the theory of Vitalism, however not every organic compound could be synthesised artificially. For example haemoglobin contains complex proteins and therefore it is hard to make it without using ribosomes or other cell compounds.
Even if the theory of Vitalism has been rejected in nowadays science, it still plays a big role in alternative medicine. Vitalism is still part of bioenergism, which is part of an energy therapy. Energy therapy is one of the five categories of alternative medicine. Another alternative medicine were Vitalism is used in are homeopathic medicine. The people who use this believe that a disease or illness has a spiritual cause and not only a physical. This means that for example if you had bad experiences in your childhood this may influence your health later on in life. Hahnemann considered the concept of homeopathic medicine when he did an experiment in which he took a drug that would help against malaria, when he actually was healthy. He experienced fever, shivering and joint pains, so symptoms similar to the symptoms of malaria and therefore he concluded that a medicine would produce similar symptoms in a healthy body as with someone who has the disease that the medicine would cure. The alternative medicine therefore is not as effective as ‘real’ medicine as they are less strong but they also concentrate on ‘curing your soul’. Hahnemann tried to convince people of this medicine and to make the have a vitalistic view on it and therefore believe that to cure the disease you also have to cure it spiritually with the help of alternative medicine. I do believe that diseases are influenced by our background, especially psychological illnesses, and that alternative helps in some way. However I also think that some of the alternative just works due to the placebo effect, which means that people believe it works and therefore will feel better after taking it. If you have a bad illness though I think people should rather take normal medicine as this is proven to work better than alternative medicine. Some people reject the belief of Vitalism completely and therefore also don’t believe in alternative medicine.
The word Vitalism was first used by Aristotle and was the Greek word for breathing, life or soul so could compare Vitalism to having a soul and only if you have a soul your living and therefore are organic. The scientists also believed that you couldn’t create something organic from inorganic compounds as Vitalism can’t be created from inorganic compounds.
Louis Pasteur was a French microbiologist and chemist and he was famous for his discovery of the principles of pasteurization, microbial fermentation and vaccinations. He believed in the theory of Vitalism and even provided evidence for it with the process of fermentation. He said that fermentation can only occur if living organisms are present and in the absence of oxygen. Louis Pasteur called this “life without air”. He rejected the idea of other scientists, who claimed that fermentation happened due to chemical agents or catalyst and concluded that it was a “vital action”.
The first person to provide evidence against the theory of Vitalism was a German chemist called Friedrich Wöhler. With using silver isocyanate and ammonium chloride he synthesized urea artificially. This was evidence against Vitalism as urea is an organic compound and he made it with just using inorganic compounds. No vital principle was involved in this process. Due to this discovery it was clear that other organic compounds would also be able to make without the “vital principle”. Wöhler’s discovery however didn’t cause all scientists to abandon the idea of Vitalism. They needed more than just this one discovery to stop believing in something that they thought was true for over hundred years. Nowadays scientists reject the theory of Vitalism, however not every organic compound could be synthesised artificially. For example haemoglobin contains complex proteins and therefore it is hard to make it without using ribosomes or other cell compounds.
Even if the theory of Vitalism has been rejected in nowadays science, it still plays a big role in alternative medicine. Vitalism is still part of bioenergism, which is part of an energy therapy. Energy therapy is one of the five categories of alternative medicine. Another alternative medicine were Vitalism is used in are homeopathic medicine. The people who use this believe that a disease or illness has a spiritual cause and not only a physical. This means that for example if you had bad experiences in your childhood this may influence your health later on in life. Hahnemann considered the concept of homeopathic medicine when he did an experiment in which he took a drug that would help against malaria, when he actually was healthy. He experienced fever, shivering and joint pains, so symptoms similar to the symptoms of malaria and therefore he concluded that a medicine would produce similar symptoms in a healthy body as with someone who has the disease that the medicine would cure. The alternative medicine therefore is not as effective as ‘real’ medicine as they are less strong but they also concentrate on ‘curing your soul’. Hahnemann tried to convince people of this medicine and to make the have a vitalistic view on it and therefore believe that to cure the disease you also have to cure it spiritually with the help of alternative medicine. I do believe that diseases are influenced by our background, especially psychological illnesses, and that alternative helps in some way. However I also think that some of the alternative just works due to the placebo effect, which means that people believe it works and therefore will feel better after taking it. If you have a bad illness though I think people should rather take normal medicine as this is proven to work better than alternative medicine. Some people reject the belief of Vitalism completely and therefore also don’t believe in alternative medicine.