Awareness and vitality - In search of the vis vitalis
Abstract
The question of the origin of life and its self-sustaining processes is one of the great mysteries of the natural sciences. There are different assumptions, which even today do not allow a clear answer, but which already give us deep insights into the wonder of life. Historically, a kind of life force has been postulated, the so-called vis vitalis. In research, however, the concept of life force hardly plays a role; life force today serves more as a working hypothesis in dealing with the subjective state of condition. In addition, it can be seen that conscious, mental contents and processes have a significant influence on our vitality and are therefore closely related to what we call vitality. Therefore the question arises: Is there any such life force that is still unknown to us, or is life actually simply a result of the more or less known complex physical-chemical processes and capable of sustaining itself and being active? The research retreat “Life Force and Consciousness” in May 2019 at the Fraueninsel (Chiemsee) dealt with this search for the vis vitalis. This retreat provided us with the inspiration for the thoughts that are presented here, which summarize the essential contents.
