par Moreau, Elisabeth
Editeur scientifique Beneduce, Chiara;Vincenti, Denise
Référence Œconomia Corporis, The Body's Normal and Pathological Constitution at the Intersection of Philosophy and Medicine, Edizioni ETS, Pisa, page (51-58)
Publication Publié, 2018
Publication dans des actes
Résumé : In early medicine, the doctrine of temperament referred to the human state of health, resulting from a balance or an imbalance of the four qualities. This definition was based on the elemental composition of the human body, following the teachings of Aristotelian physics and Galenic medicine. At the intersection of natural philosophy and medicine, Renaissance physiology provided a comprehensive account of the healthy temperament, discussing the nature of elements, their union into a mixture and their interaction with a vital principle. In this paper, I will examine the theory of temperament exposed in a leading treatise of the early modern period, Jean Fernel’s Physiologia (1567). I will show that (1) Fernel’s account of mixture and temperament opened the door to a discontinuous interpretation of the elements; (2) beyond its humanist promotion of Ancient authors, i.e. Plato, Aristotle and Galen, Fernel’s interpretation was much indebted to medieval medicine, in particular Avicenna.