Toward a Unifying Transcultural Perspective on Illness, Health and Wellbeing: A Theoretical Proposition
OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine September 11, 2025 DOI: 10.21926/obm.icm.2503038 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that illness and wellbeing cannot be understood through a single lens and proposes a transcultural, integrative approach to health that bridges materialist science and philosophical traditions, acknowledging both biological and existential dimensions of human experience. |
Abstract
This paper presents a unifying transcultural perspective on human illness, health and wellbeing by integrating insights from cognitive psychology, existential psychotherapy, Zen philosophy, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and quantum consciousness theory. Kahneman and Tversky’s work on heuristics and biases highlights cognitive constraints shaping decision-making, while Yalom’s existential therapy explores fundamental struggles with death, freedom, and meaning. Watts’ Zen philosophy critiques the illusion of ego and emphasizes non-dual awareness, paralleling TCM’s embodied framework of Qi regulation and acupuncture. Quantum consciousness theory challenges reductionist neuroscience by proposing bioelectric and quantum processes as substrates of awareness. Together, these perspectives suggest that illness and wellbeing cannot be understood through a single lens. By bridging materialist science and philosophical traditions, this synthesis proposes a trans-cultural and integrative approach to health that acknowledges both the biological and existential dimensions of human experience.