Foundations of philosophy
The 33 Principles
Stephenson’s numbered framework for following the philosophy.
The big idea
The principles move from broad claims about intelligence and matter toward more specific ideas about living organization, transmission, and coordination. Use them as a map for reading. You do not need to memorize all 33 to begin understanding how the ideas connect.
An everyday illustration
A book’s table of contents helps you see the arrangement before studying every chapter. The numbered principles can serve a similar orienting purpose.
An original illustration to help explain the idea, not a quotation or evidence of a biological mechanism.
In the author’s words
“These are stated and numbered for convenience so that their application to things under discussion can be seen.”
1927 edition · PDF page 28
Explore this book
“They are arranged in an order which goes from the general to the specific.”
1927 edition · PDF page 28
Explore this book
Short excerpts from the indexed edition; line breaks are normalized. PDF page numbers refer to the source file, and may differ from printed page numbers.
Read it in context
Stephenson says the numbering is for convenience and that principles are not limited to a fixed number. These 25 guide topics are our editorial starting collection, separate from his 33 principles.
Keep the question going
Explore the 33 principles with Ask B.J.
How does the Green Books discussion of the 33 principles help a new reader understand chiropractic philosophy? Explain simply, cite the relevant passages, and distinguish historical philosophy from current clinical evidence.
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