Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang
herbal medicine” (WHM) or “traditional“Westernherbalism” are terms used to distinguishWesternbased on Anglo-American traditionalherbalismmedicine from systems of herbal medicineherbalin the world, such as homeopathy,elsewhereor traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).Ayurvedathe last 50 years, traditional Western herbalists“Overlearned their craft in various settings. Somehavehave tried to formalize, professionalize andteacherstheir teaching, designing multiple-yearinstitutionalizewith clinical components. Other teachersprogrammesnot taken this approach, choosing to stick with thehaveherbalist educators have created institutionsSomeby dominant forms of scientic knowledge,recognizableas reading biochemical assay studies of plantsuchEven so, those teachers still draw onconstituents.of direct encounter with living plants andpracticessubstances grounded in long histories.medicinalwow,’ she says under her breath, eyes wide. ‘That’s‘Ooh,intense.’ …dropper circulates until everyone has taken a dropThetwo of the richly red infused alcohol, registering itsorand sensations. The schisandra berries, too,avorseach of us dipping our ngers in the bowlcirculate,feel their hard, small, wrinkled round bodies. Wetothem, crack open a few to look inside, touchsmelllook carefully. When both have passed throughthem,hands, Sparrow pauses her discussion ofeveryone’spatterns, harvest times, and how to be careful ofgrowthwhen buying commercially.provenancewhat are folks tasting?’ A question that grounds‘So,Materia Medica class, where students learn theeachwith which to speak about medicinal avors,languageswell as taxonomy and medicinal uses of plants.aswas REALLY intense to me, like packed with energy,’‘Itadds. Sarahgreat,’ says Sparrow, the teacher, turning from the‘Yeah,where she had written all these words. ‘What else?boarddon’t know,’ Ash says, ‘it tasted warming to me. But‘Idry.’denitelyall mostly got it. It’s denitely drying, or “astringing”‘Youtraditional western terms, and sour, and somewhatinbut not too much. And it’s got a kind of neutralpungentcan be warming or cooling depending on theenergy—itthough it tends toward cooling because it’scondition,It’s also often stimulating for folks.’sour.add these collected observations to our MatStudentsnotes for schisandra. Tasting this plant’s extractMedthem into a dierent kind of learning space wherebringscan connect the information they gather fromtheylecture and discussion to their direct experience,thedierent kinds of knowing together. As a culturallteringI follow this attention to taste, touch,anthropologist,and sensation in order to examine the kinds ofsmell,that matter to herbalists, and that approach toevidenceinforms their approach to medical knowledgeevidencethe last 50 years in the United States, complementaryInalternative medical practices have become veryandWe can take this as one indication thatsuccessful.people think there are alternatives to biomedicine,manyit comes to thinking about and working on bodieswhenhealth. Herbalism, however, is not just ‘alternative’andbiomedicine—contemporary herbalists developtopractices to work in conversation with it.knowledgeat The Center where I conducted researchTeachersthe experience of a trained herbalists’ sensoryclaimas a form of knowledge that can provide evidence:skillsplants’ medicinal qualities; for plant preparations’forcomposition, and capacity for ecacy; andstrength,bodily states of wellness and illness. These claimsforin contrast to biomedical ideals, which developedaretandem with the networks and institutions thatiningestible substances (food, pharmaceuticals,regulatewhich consider somatic or bodilysupplements),unreliable evidence in part becauseexperiencesare not understood to be easily reproducible.theysuggest that reproducibility is not possibleHerbalistsany case, because each body, plant, and ailmentindistinct, albeit with some shared features. It is inareconversations about evidence, and the relationthesebodily experience to legitimate knowledge, whereofmake their most meaningful contributionherbalistshuman health. Claims about experience, and thetoof sensory experience, opened the way for whattrainingMichelle Murphy might call an herbalistanthropologistotherwise,’ and it is that ‘otherwise’ I‘technosciencehere (Murphy 2006). To say that one can knowtraceby tasting, growing, touching, nurturing themplantsevidence and its production outside a statusquolocatesparadigm for health. Direct experience as a mode ofIII. Methods and toolsIII. Methods and tools“traditional” apprenticeship mode.more generally.‘It’s like, sweet but spicy,’ Angie says.How about the energetics? Who felt it was cooling?’131
III. Methods and toolsand mutual aid as an ethic of care underpinnedlearningherbalist practices and companies grew out ofhowjustice movements as political projects (see KatzhealthKropotkin 1902 on mutual aid and solidarity as1981;key dierence between biomedical practitionersAherbalists, though, lies in how they produceandfor themselves about the materials of theirknowledgeand its bodily eects—where herbalistsmedicine,and smell and try plant-medicines to understandtasteeects, biomedical doctors are not generallytheirto sample all the pharmaceuticals theyencouragedprescribe. Thus, it is the substances about whichcouldexperiences produce knowledge: whole plantherbalists’made from plants conceived as beings withpreparations,humans can have intimate relations, instead of aswhomand whole bodies understood to be shapedresources;constitutions and individual tendencies, but alwaysbyin relationship with the world around them.alreadyregulatory measures have moved awayContemporarybodily attunements, seeking evidence producedfrommachines (such as isolated molecular structures) tobyin for the tastes and smells that trained bodies canstandterms: Aeon MagicSearchormedicine?we guard against romanticizing theWhileof traditional communities andknowledgethe advances and perspective ofdevaluingmedicine, we must also recognize themodernof Indigenous knowledge wroughtdevastationcenturies of colonial rule and subsequentbyinstability. Consider this article, whichpoliticaldescribes the challenges of globalpowerfullyamid folk approaches to healing amonghealthcommunities in Uganda.IndigenousWhat roles do belief and scepticism play in1.we receive knowledge from differenthowabout medicines and health, herbalists makeevidenceand social interventions into regulatory worlds,politicalto shift how federal and state monitors allowseekingto identify medicines with trained bodily senses.themreveals a politics of evidence as herbalistsHerbalismclaims about plants’ healing capacities and aboutmakeas a system of knowledge. What’s mostherbalismis to ask: whose evidence, and evidenceinterestingwhat purposes, has shaped western herbalismfora set of intellectual orientations? And how doesasinstitutionalization make claims on regulatoryitsas it tries to at once hold on to, but also movestructures,legitimacy in terms of biomedical standardsProducingevidence may not be at the forefront of all herbalists’ofbut it does play a central role in the creation andminds,of structured curricula like that used atmaintenanceCenter. In other words, herbalists’ attempts to makeThework legitimate to regulators and to the generaltheiris shaping how they teach herbalism. Part ofpublicprofessionalization of herbalists as they seek tothenew possibilities for legitimate medicine throughmakepolitics of evidence relies also on a change inchangingWhat factors within and external to a2.affect the perceived or actualcommunity(a) Under what circumstances can the3.between Indigenous andencounterknowledge produce negativescientificresults?How might we distinguish between(b)knowledge and other beliefsIndigenous(a) In the context of this example, which4.can be used to makestandardsabout whether knowledgejudgments“works”?(b) Who should set the standards?Should these standards apply(c)or should there beuniversally5political modes).out of a space of alternative-ness?identify. In response to the gray area of what counts asinstitutional forms.”Practising skills: Exploring perspectives and evaluating claimslegitimacy of its knowledge?held by local populations?cultures?limitations and exceptions?132
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herbal medicine” (WHM) or “traditional
“Western
herbalism” are terms used to distinguish
Western
based on Anglo-American traditional
herbalism
medicine from systems of herbal medicine
herbal
in the world, such as homeopathy,
elsewhere
or traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
Ayurveda
the last 50 years, traditional Western herbalists
“Over
learned their craft in various settings. Some
have
have tried to formalize, professionalize and
teachers
their teaching, designing multiple-year
institutionalize
with clinical components. Other teachers
programmes
not taken this approach, choosing to stick with the
have
herbalist educators have created institutions
Some
by dominant forms of scientic knowledge,
recognizable
as reading biochemical assay studies of plant
such
Even so, those teachers still draw on
constituents.
of direct encounter with living plants and
practices
substances grounded in long histories.
medicinal
wow,’ she says under her breath, eyes wide. ‘That’s
‘Ooh,
intense.’ …
dropper circulates until everyone has taken a drop
The
two of the richly red infused alcohol, registering its
or
and sensations. The schisandra berries, too,
avors
each of us dipping our ngers in the bowl
circulate,
feel their hard, small, wrinkled round bodies. We
to
them, crack open a few to look inside, touch
smell
look carefully. When both have passed through
them,
hands, Sparrow pauses her discussion of
everyone’s
patterns, harvest times, and how to be careful of
growth
when buying commercially.
provenance
what are folks tasting?’ A question that grounds
‘So,
Materia Medica class, where students learn the
each
with which to speak about medicinal avors,
languages
well as taxonomy and medicinal uses of plants.
as
was REALLY intense to me, like packed with energy,’
‘It
adds. Sarah
great,’ says Sparrow, the teacher, turning from the
‘Yeah,
where she had written all these words. ‘What else?
board
don’t know,’ Ash says, ‘it tasted warming to me. But
‘I
dry.’
denitely
all mostly got it. It’s denitely drying, or “astringing”
‘You
traditional western terms, and sour, and somewhat
in
but not too much. And it’s got a kind of neutral
pungent
can be warming or cooling depending on the
energy—it
though it tends toward cooling because it’s
condition,
It’s also often stimulating for folks.’
sour.
add these collected observations to our Mat
Students
notes for schisandra. Tasting this plant’s extract
Med
them into a dierent kind of learning space where
brings
can connect the information they gather from
they
lecture and discussion to their direct experience,
the
dierent kinds of knowing together. As a cultural
ltering
I follow this attention to taste, touch,
anthropologist,
and sensation in order to examine the kinds of
smell,
that matter to herbalists, and that approach to
evidence
informs their approach to medical knowledge
evidence
the last 50 years in the United States, complementary
In
alternative medical practices have become very
and
We can take this as one indication that
successful.
people think there are alternatives to biomedicine,
many
it comes to thinking about and working on bodies
when
health. Herbalism, however, is not just ‘alternative’
and
biomedicine—contemporary herbalists develop
to
practices to work in conversation with it.
knowledge
at The Center where I conducted research
Teachers
the experience of a trained herbalists’ sensory
claim
as a form of knowledge that can provide evidence:
skills
plants’ medicinal qualities; for plant preparations’
for
composition, and capacity for ecacy; and
strength,
bodily states of wellness and illness. These claims
for
in contrast to biomedical ideals, which developed
are
tandem with the networks and institutions that
in
ingestible substances (food, pharmaceuticals,
regulate
which consider somatic or bodily
supplements),
unreliable evidence in part because
experiences
are not understood to be easily reproducible.
they
suggest that reproducibility is not possible
Herbalists
any case, because each body, plant, and ailment
in
distinct, albeit with some shared features. It is in
are
conversations about evidence, and the relation
these
bodily experience to legitimate knowledge, where
of
make their most meaningful contribution
herbalists
human health. Claims about experience, and the
to
of sensory experience, opened the way for what
training
Michelle Murphy might call an herbalist
anthropologist
otherwise,’ and it is that ‘otherwise’ I
‘technoscience
here (Murphy 2006). To say that one can know
trace
by tasting, growing, touching, nurturing them
plants
evidence and its production outside a statusquo
locates
paradigm for health. Direct experience as a mode of
III. Methods and tools
III. Methods and tools
“traditional” apprenticeship mode.
more generally.
‘It’s like, sweet but spicy,’ Angie says.
How about the energetics? Who felt it was cooling?’
131