Philosophical Analysis Is Like Medical Diagnosis Philosophical investigation can be compared, in a way, to medical diagnosis and investigation. It is a subtle and in-depth understanding of the basic components of experience, similar to the investigation of various methods of medical application, as in the case of a chronic illness. Inasmuch as the organism of the body is internally related, the parts are connected to one another in an inseparable manner. Hence, when a part is investigated into, its relevance to the other parts cannot be ignored.
Medical examination is a difficult subject.
When a particular part of the body or an organ is ill, a good physician may have to understand the causative factors embedded in the whole system, and not merely in that particular organ. When a person is ill, even if it is by a mere cold, the whole body is ill, not merely the nostrils, or the nose. The illness is expressed or manifested through a particular channel, but the disturbance is in the entire organism. Likewise is human experience. Human problems do not come merely from one side, just as one is not ill only in one part of the body, though it may appear that he has only a sore in the foot, or a cold in the nose, or an ache in the head.