Liliya Ilgizovna Monasypova

Vice-President of Tashkent Roerich Society Uzbekistan, Tashkent

Culture Stands Sentinel over Health of Society

The late 20th century is characterized both with successful development of new branches of a science and attempts to confirm a humanistic ideal as counterbalancing power, capable to reduce negative influence of new technologies on the person and his environment.

The humanistic ideal acts as a basis of such important standard of development of a modern society as responsibility. In the modern world the medicine undergoes process of the transformations connected with development of new technologies, this fact has determined appearance of bioethics.

The bioethics illustrates opposition of such concepts as Culture and Civilization in medicine. And answers for many questions facing medicine can be found in case of acceptance of a priority of Culture in society life.

Many philosophers of 20th century repeatedly underlined inadmissibility of mixturing the concepts of Culture and Civilization - they were a Russian philosopher-cosmist Nicholas Berdjaev, a Russian artist, humanist, public figure Nicholas Roerich. Ideas about powerful influence of Culture on society evolution are put forward in the works of well-known psychiatrists and philosophers K.T. Jaspers, C.G.Jung, and a German-French doctor, theologian A.Schweitzer.

G. Engel (1975) proposed a biopsychosocial model of the disease alternative to the standard biomedical approach. The Holistic approach, special to ancient medicine, received a new substantiation.

The Holistic approach means not only importance of harmonization of mental and physical health, but also influence of spirituality on the processes occurring in a human body.

As the biopsychosocial model of disease which means interdependence of biological, psychological and social factors is accepted today in a medical science, it is possible to say that searches of the measures promoting recover or prevention of illnesses, are beyond narrowly medical. At such understanding the medicine is included into sphere of the humanities, being a part of Culture.

Today close attention is paid to quality of life questions both in scientific researches and in general medical practice.

The conception of quality of life appeared in Index Medicus in 1977 and now is widely used in medicine.

In Europe "Quality of life" means the integrated characteristic of physical, psychological, emotional and social functioning of the person. In the USA researchers define quality of a life as physical, emotional, social, financial and spiritual well-being of the person.

Today the important place of spiritual needs in satisfaction with quality of life is marked .in scientific investigations.

V.I. Vernadsky said that the noosphere was formed by people as continuation of organization of biosphere and as development of its basic processes, providing social well-being in the world.

One of the fundamental ideas, lied at the root of noosphere theory of V. Vernadsky is the thought that human is not the individuality, which lives separately by his own law, he cohabits with Nature and he is the part of it.

Spiritual and cultural development of mankind is the pledge of saving the ecological balance and well-being on the Earth.

Historical experience of medicine and natural sciences testify to close interrelation of somatic, mental and spiritual spheres. Not casually today numerous researches are interdisciplinary.

An illustrative example of effectiveness of the interdisciplinary approach in working out of the complex programs, directed to health resumption may serve psychooncology (a science, called to improve quality of a life of patients with malignant tumours, correct the arisen psychological and mental disorders).

Some rehabilitation programs are based on synthesis of methods of the West and the East of disposal of addictions, coping with internal and interpersonal conflicts. In particular, the Eurasian Project of rapprochement of ethnopsychological and ethnopsychotherapeutic positions of the West and the East is developed by scientists of Tomsk Scientific Research Institute of Mental Health.

It seems important also to note synergetics as complex interdisciplinary direction in a science and a method of scientific activity. The synergetics begins with definition of opened self-organizing systems. It is doctrine about self-organizing laws in open systems. For this purpose it is necessary to survey the Person as opened self-organizing system, a unity of soul and a body, spiritual, mental and physical health.

The synergetics can help to survey problems of development of the person in the space of Culture.

The culture as the spiritual basis of a noosphere and ecological space, is capable to be a powerful resource for recovery of health, prevention of its disturbances.

The mentality focused on spiritual cultural self-development is pledge of both mental and physical health, ability to realize the potential and to have necessary quality of life.



______________

•  The Roerich Pact and the Banner of Peace as a Remarkable Phenomenon of the World Culture
Reports and Speeches at the International Social and Scientific Conference.
Delhi – Kullu – Shimla – Kalimpong October 22– November 5 2010


© The International Council of Roerich Organizations by name of S.N. Roerich. http://www.roerichs.com/Lng/en