Customer Reviews

Chiropractic: A Philosophy for Alternative Health Care

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This is an outstanding textbook. In fact, it is the first attempt to really look at the fundamental philosophies of chiropractic. While many in the chiropractic profession may believe that there is a chiropractic philosophy, Dr. Coulter explains that in reality there are a few philosophies of chiropractic. This is much more than a semantic difference, it is one that is crucial to the understanding of what chiropractic is and is not. There are many books about the chiropractic profession that are written by those with an ax to grind on either side of the issue. From chiropractors whose zeal for the profession blinds them, to the anti-chiropractic zealots who possess equal blindness. Dr. Coulter is a sociologist who first became involved with the chiropractic profession while studying it from a sociological perspective. His thoughts on the philosophy of chiropractic are insightful for both chiropractors, other health care providers (conventional or alternative) and patients alike. For anyone who is really interested in understanding chiropractic, not to hear doctrine or dogma but from the standpoint of someone who is not a partisan rather a long term observer this is THE book to get.

Coulter, a research fellow at RAND is on the faculty of the UCLA School of Dentistry and Southern California University of Health Sciences which houses the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic. He is also the former President of Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in Toronto. His doctorate is in philosophy and he has numerous papers published on chiropractic in national and international journals. He is more than qualified to write this short treatise on chiropractic wherein he lays out a philosophy of chiropractic and some of its foibles with clarity and depth in the vernacular of Popper, Kuhn, the Vienna Circle and others. Since alternative health care shares some of chiropractic's belief systems, Coulter's mental algorithm for chiropractic can be applied to other complementary and alternative medical professions. An easy read, Coulter takes care not to lose the philosophical novice in the intellectualism of philosophy. Great reading for someone interested in knowing more about chiropractic and alternative health care in general.