may utc i'm not sure one can draw exact parallels between mechanistic non subluxation based and vitalistic subluxation based chiropractors although it would generally be true while some mechanistic chiros may choose to limit their practice they can still be vitalists otoh vitalism is an integral part of the belief in vertebral subluxations vs it all depends on how you choose to define vitalism in a general sense all healthcare practitioners know that the body has inherent abilities to heal itself this has never been unique to chiropractic and predates it vitalism in its religious metaphysical sense also predates chiropractic and palmer but is the basis for palmer's development of the concepts of universal intelligence ui and innate intelligence ii i can conceive of some subluxation based chiropractors not being conscious and informed believers in ui iow they are actually mechanistic subluxation based chiros even some professed atheists can believe in some sort of supernatural entity they will tend to confuse vs for orthopedic subluxations considering them to be the same truly informed and practicing vitalistic subluxation based chiros the planet chiro and f a c e type are normally members of the ica or wca and understand the difference and that is that vs has a metaphysical element that is the unique property of chiropractic without this principle difference chiropractic loses its uniqueness when it comes down to it belief in vs is the most fundamental difference between chiropractors and influences many other things about the way they think and practice here is something about chiropractic and vitalism the debate over whether life is controlled by spiritual or material forces peaked in the nineteenth century by this time scientists endorsing spiritual control began to refer to themselves as vitalists vitalism according to the merriam webster dictionary is the doctrine that the processes of life are not explainable by the laws of physics and chemistry alone and that life is in some part self determining vitalists contended that some vital factor as distinct from physiochemical factors was involved with controlling the body's structure and function since the definition of vitalism emphasizes that its character is beyond the laws of physics measurement vitalistic mechanisms were outside of the defined parameters of modern science in spite of its metaphysical nature vitalism was still endorsed by many traditional nineteenth century scientists the support for vitalism was soundly shaken in when charles darwin published his origin of species in his treatise on evolution theory darwin emphasized that internalized hereditary factors the existence of genes had not yet been recognized were responsible for controlling the character of evolving species within a decade of its presentation darwinian theory was endorsed by the majority of conventional scientists darwin's theory of evolution denied the role of spirit or life force in the unfoldment of life on this planet consequently scientists myopically focused on the search for the internalized material elements that controlled biological organisms d d palmer was very sensitive to scientists' displeasure concerning concepts related to spirit and vital forces in formulating the original science of chiropractic he coined the terms universal intelligence and innate intelligence to refer to the inherent organizing intelligence of the universe and of life in the early years of chiropractic i used the terms innate spirit innate intelligence spiritual intellect universal intelligence god because they were comprehensive and the world was not prepared to receive the latter terms just mentioned in parentheses it may be even now premature to use them page the science art and philosophy of chiropractic since vitalism is at the heart of chiropractic philosophy and vitalism is perceived as metaphysics the philosophy of chiropractic is not recognized by conventional medical science though modern medicine consider chiropractic as unscientific it has not been able to ignore the large number of their patients that have been increasingly satisfied with chiropractic care the success of chiropractic in recent years has fueled the antagonism between conventional medical physicians and chiropractors biomedical research scientists are at a loss to explain the efficacy of chiropractic adjustment for it is in direct opposition to contemporary knowledge concerning biological control mechanisms bruce h lipton ph d today's chiropractic sept oct another interesting quote n