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based on the belief that there exists such a thing as universal reason. He argued that the evidence of the emotions, the senses, and of mathematics—anything leaving space for doubt—should be rejected. 9 Descartes's noble—if impossible—aim was to create a foundation for scientific humanity in which the essence of being human could be utterly divorced from the uncertainties of nature, making humanity "the masters and possessors of nature . . . to enjoy trouble-free the fruits of the earth and all the goods found there." Of these, the greatest of all possible goods was health, and he thought he could contribute to providing this to humanity through the development of this foundation (although we now know that this idea of removing uncertainty— although well-meaning—is only possible in the world of philosophy), thus he established a basis for medical science in which thought, emotion, and what some call the soul were to be forever considered as entirely separated from nature. 10 Modern Medicine and the Scientific Method The division of medical science gave us modern medicine and the scientific method, based on an overall mechanistic view of the body. 11 The practice of dissection added to this, which was an inspiration to Descartes and those who built on his perspectives, whereby physical points of commonality discovered by anatomists offered the desired scientific objectivity and added to the depersonification of the body in the process. 12 This is the basis for the same "allopathic" approach that holistic practitioners have decried for many decades, claiming it is quite impossible to divorce mind from body, and earning themselves decades of challenges in the process— though that is a separate discussion. This mechanistic perspective became the bedrock of biomedical epistemology (the study, understanding, and basis of knowledge). From a Cartesian epistemological standpoint, all that is worth knowing about the body in order to understand and heal it rests on mechanistic, physicochemical principles. In terms of knowledge creation, organization, and application, this standpoint created an insurmountable division between body and mind, since this dualistic separation became the basis for the foundation of biomedical research and practice. 13 Ethics in Medicine With the mind conveniently severed from the body, physicians in Western societies enjoyed a superior authority conferred in part by years of learning, but largely from the dynamic of the doctor-patient relationship. Social class, education, and wealth are swept away in the face of illness, and doctors (past and present) have often enjoyed a significantly privileged status, whether ministering to kings or to paupers. As explained by Charon, founder of Narrative Medicine: "The patient's lived experience of having the disease does not automatically count for much in health- care's proceedings. The power is all on one side. When disagreements between them arise, the power asymmetry privileges the stance of the professional. If [. . .] a patient refuses medical treatment, the patient is charged with incompetence." 14 Despite the foundation of bioethics in the mid-20th century in response to a growing number of scandalous events that began a reexamination of medical practice overall, it often did not go far enough, and the ethical frameworks developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s still left too much room for confusion. Initially, four key principles were established as the central moral elements of bioethics: respect for patient autonomy; nonmaleficence (do no deliberate harm); beneficence (have the patient's best interests in mind); and justice. 15 Since then, other ethical frameworks have emerged in an attempt to improve, ring-fence, or develop the guidelines to correct the detached and impersonal nature of earlier frameworks. L i s te n to T h e A B M P Po d c a s t a t a b m p.co m /p o d c a s t s o r w h e reve r yo u a cce s s yo u r favo r i te p o d c a s t s 45 SOMATIC RESE ARCH Rather than seeing the patient as someone to be educated and corrected, thus imposing on them a receptive role that is on unequal footing with the practitioner, NBM reverses this relationship and puts the person-centered focus into tangible practice using hands-on, practical methods.