Vitalism
<p ><b>Vitalism</b>, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary,<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitalism#cite_note-0" >[1]</a></sup> is</p>
<ol >
<li >a doctrine that the functions of a living organism are due to a vital principle distinct from biochemical reactions</li>
<li >a doctrine that the processes of life are not explicable by the laws of physics and chemistry alone and that life is in some part <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination_(philosophy)" title="Self-determination (philosophy)" >self-determining</a></li>
<li ></li>
</ol>
<p >Where vitalism explicitly invokes a vital principle, that element is often referred to as the "vital spark", "energy" or "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89lan_vital" title="Élan vital" >élan vital</a>", which some equate with the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_(spirit)" title="Soul (spirit)" class="mw-redirect" >soul</a>".</p>
<p>
Vitalism has a long history in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical" title="Medical" class="mw-redirect" >medical</a> philosophies: most <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_medicine" title="Traditional medicine" >traditional healing</a> practices posited that disease results from some imbalance in the vital energies that distinguish living from non-living matter. </p>
<p>
In the Western tradition founded by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocrates" title="Hippocrates" >Hippocrates</a>, these vital forces were associated with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_temperaments" title="Four temperaments" >four temperaments</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_four_humours" title="The four humours" class="mw-redirect" >humours</a>; </p>
<p>
Eastern traditions posited similar forces such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi" title="Qi" >qi</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prana" title="Prana" >prana</a>. It is often contrasted to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductionism" title="Reductionism" >reductionism</a>, the more mechanistic approach.</p>