$ For Vitalism: Two Natural Therapist Student Papers per ANTA 2009:

here, I cite the academic vitalism of two winners of the $1000 [AU] Australian Natural Therapists Association's "ANTA National Student Bursaries" [see 001., below] -- Greta Leonard [see 002., below] & John Potter [see 003., below]:

001. ANTA states:

001.a. in "ANTA National Student Bursaries" [pdf]:

"to be eligible you must be a student currently enrolled in a course recognized by ANTA on a full time or part time basis in undergraduate or postgraduate studies [...] to apply for an ANTA Bursary of $1000 send us assignments you have completed as part of your studies."

Note: so, obviously, these winners are exemplars of natural therapy scholarship.

001.b. in "[2008] Bursary Winners":

"congratulations to all recipients of an ANTA Bursary Award of $1000. The quality of the submissions for the ANTA Bursary have been outstanding and confirms [that?] the future of the national [sp., natural?] therapy professional [sp., profession?] is in good hands [...the] 2008 ANTA National Bursary Winners [...include] Greta Leonard (VIC): 'Vitalism is a Central Concept of All Traditional Health Systems'."

Note: I'm not sure what school Leonard is from, but the paper is naturopathic.

001.c. in "Past Bursary Winners":

"[the] 2007 ANTA National Bursary Winners [...includes] John Potter (SITCM) [...] 'Compare and Contrast the Philosophy and History of WM and TCM'."

Note: SITCM is the The Sydney Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Obviously, both an N.D. and an L.Ac. [to use U.S. credentials] are considered to be "natural therapists." What makes such so interesting are the supernatural premises that are essential to both disciplines. How long ago in human thought was it when no distinction was made between the natural and the supernatural, 500 years?

002. the Leonard paper "Vitalism is a Central Concept of All Traditional Health Systems" [pdf] states:

"[instructor's assigned task] 'vitalism is a central concept of all traditional health systems. Discuss the value and relevance of this concept to modern naturopathy' [...student's argument, regarding naturopathy's] vitalism and the beliefs [!!!] it embodies [...per] a vitalistic approach to health is crucial for the efficacy of modern naturopathy as a healing modality [...its] an essential component of modern naturopathy [...we hold that] a person does not become ill simply because they have come into contact with a pathogen. Rather, disease results from an 'imbalance in the vital force' [...] naturopathy works at re-establishing this balance [...this] vitalistic approach [of naturopathy...] facilitate[s] the innate healing capacity of the body, the vis medicatrix naturae [...per] the energetic and spiritual side of health and healing [...per] 'life-supporting cosmic forces' [...] this idea of a vital force permeating and giving life to humans is neither foreign nor new in traditional health systems [...] in the philosophy of ayurvedic medicine it is believed that 'prana' gives life to the physical body, and connects the body with the mind and spirit. Traditional Chinese medicine also refer[s] to a life force they call 'qi', that flows through the body in particular channels, or meridians that serves to 'maintain the health and vitality of the individual' [...overall, vitalism] claims that living matter is [so] complex and [that it] cannot be adequately explained by a set of chemical and physical processes [that is, the laws of nature...something else is there that enspirits!!!...this is] a theory that sits outside of the current mechanistic world view [that is, science and its evidence...which the author calls] the narrow margins of scientific validation [...and admits] vitalism is currently immeasurable [...] it is precisely because of this inability to prove the existence of a 'vital force' that vitalism continues to be attacked and discredited [...so,] trying to validate naturopathic principles using methods from a completely different paradigm simply does not make sense [!!!...] it does not matter that the theory cannot be scientifically validated [!!!...] vitalism cannot be measured within the scientific paradigm. This essay accepts that fact [...but, we still stubbornly believe -- without evidence -- that] healing is a mysterious force."

Note: this drips with absurdity. If naturopathy is so different in 'paradigm' than science, why do they continue to trade on the lie that they are science-based and not a belief system? Hmmm, this is junk thought, minimally.

003. the Potter paper "Compare and Contrast the Philosophy and History of WM and TCM" [pdf] states:

"the vitalists like Galen, Paracelsus, Bichat and Stahl imitated Plato by believing [!!!] in the concept of 'pneuma', 'anima' or [a] vital integrating 'life force' of living creatures which distinguishes them from non-living and/inert matter, and they opposed mechanistic principles [...per] Platonic idealist spiritualism [...] Galen [...] saw a dynamic functional activity or controlling life force directing [per a 'goal directed entelechy'] a body process toward a specific end [a 'telos'] which he called 'faculty'. Like Hippocrates he believed in concepts of the harmony of the four humors, elements and life force [...] even though Western medicine has been built on both idealistic and vitalist principles [that is, used to contain!], today it is primarily materialistic [it uses rigorous knowledge achieved through the scientific method, not archaic woo -- because it isn't mired in antiquated dogma]. It looks at structure, form and anatomy and relies on technology, hard data, and clear and definite etiology [that's horrible?!?!?...and we get that old canard] science was the new 'religion' [...while] meridians are intangible [they don't exist] and unexplainable by Western science [{a lot more religious than evidence & reason!}...TCM] emphasizes the spiritual and philosophical aspects of disease [...] explain[ing] the relationships between individuals['] body, mind and spirit [...yet, even with all this TCM supernaturalism, we're told] nearly four thousand years ago the Yellow Emperor Huang-Di broke through thousands of years of belief in supernatural healing by introducing science and other arts of civilization [per establishing TCM]."

Note: truly hilariously absurd. Science didn't exist then, and that's an historical fact. "Qi" shows up 27 times in this essay, "spirit" 5 times.

004. this is the antiscience & antiintellectualism -- in claiming that nonsense is in fact sense -- that such [AU] 'natural therapist' schools teach students in this year 2009, e.g. such vitalism is completely scientifically-ejected.