• Mirtz TA

• Chiropractic / history
• Open Access Document
• Philosophy, Chiropractic

Objective: B.J. Palmer’s Big Idea (BI) and B.J. Palmer’s Utopia (BJU) remain central to chiropractic thought, yet their underlying ideological structures and societal ambitions have not been systematically examined. This study investigates the conceptual and organizational dimensions of BI and BJU through the contrasting perspectives of Karl Marx and Russell Kirk, assessing how these frameworks envision human potential and social order.

Methods: Textual Analysis (TA) was applied to key phrases from BI and BJU across 3 vectors: philosophical, political, and public health. Marxian theory was used to evaluate structural and ideological patterns, while Kirkian principles assessed alignment with human nature, moral order, and institutional feasibility.

Results: BI and BJU manifest characteristics of totalizing ideological systems, including claims to exclusive truth, centralized authority, suppression of dissent, and embedding within societal structures. Textual analysis demonstrates that these frameworks are Marxist in epistemic and structural logic, projecting a utopian social order that would subordinate individual autonomy to doctrinal imperatives. Kirkian analysis highlights tensions between these utopian ambitions and human imperfectability, moral order, and voluntary social structures. Key canonical phrases reveal ambitions extending beyond health into broader social and public health domains.

Conclusion: BI and BJU operate as a totalizing ideological framework that shapes professional identity while projecting expansive visions of social order. They exhibit Marxist structural logic making claims to exclusive access to truth, enforcing centralized authority, suppressing dissent, and embedding within societal institutions. Kirkian analysis highlights tensions between these utopian ambitions and human nature, moral order, and voluntary social structures. Together, these findings underscore the structural and societal overreach of chiropractic’s foundational ideas, revealing conflicts between ideological aspiration and human, institutional, and social realities.

Author keywords: Chiropractic; Karl Marx, Russell Kirk; Philosophy

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