Descartes the doctor: Rationalism and its therapies

British Journal for the History of Science

Volumn 33, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 131-154

  Shapin, Steven ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; FRANCE; HISTORY; MEDICINE; PHILOSOPHY; PHYSICIAN; PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE; THERAPY;

FRANCE; HISTORY, 17TH CENTURY; MEDICINE; PHILOSOPHY; PHYSICIANS; PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE; THERAPEUTICS;

EID: 0034203301     PISSN: 00070874     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S000708749900391X     Document Type: Article

References (215)

1. For a better manner of living in the world as a legitimate test of philosophical knowledge, see e.g. A. Nehamas, The Art of Living: Socratic Reflections from Plato to Foucault, Berkeley, CA, 1998; P. Hadot, Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault, (trans. M. Chase, ed. A. I. Davidson), Oxford, 1995; and J. Cottingham, Philosophy and the Good Life: Reason and the Passions in Greek, Cartesian and Psychoanalytic Ethics, Cambridge, 1998.
2. For a better manner of living in the world as a legitimate test of philosophical knowledge, see e.g. A. Nehamas, The Art of Living: Socratic Reflections from Plato to Foucault, Berkeley, CA, 1998; P. Hadot, Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault, (trans. M. Chase, ed. A. I. Davidson), Oxford, 1995; and J. Cottingham, Philosophy and the Good Life: Reason and the Passions in Greek, Cartesian and Psychoanalytic Ethics, Cambridge, 1998.
3. For a better manner of living in the world as a legitimate test of philosophical knowledge, see e.g. A. Nehamas, The Art of Living: Socratic Reflections from Plato to Foucault, Berkeley, CA, 1998; P. Hadot, Philosophy as a Way of Life: Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault, (trans. M. Chase, ed. A. I. Davidson), Oxford, 1995; and J. Cottingham, Philosophy and the Good Life: Reason and the Passions in Greek, Cartesian and Psychoanalytic Ethics, Cambridge, 1998.
4. D. N. McCloskey, If You're So Smart: The Narrative of Economic Expertise, Chicago, 1990.
5. All three of these 'test-questions' should be reasonably familiar to modern historians of ideas: the first and second through the work of such modern 'virtue theorists' as Martha Nussbaum and Alasdair MacIntyre; the third through historical studies of science-technology relations and of the rhetoric used to legitimate the place of science in mercantile societies.
6. Of course, other conceptions of philosophy, e.g. Epicurean and Stoic, did not run this rule over knowledge: the purpose of philosophy was to console and to reconcile people to their inevitable fate.
7. See O. Temkin, Hippocrates in the World of Pagans and Christians, Baltimore, 1991, 8-9; idem. The Double face of Janus and Other Essays in the History of Medicine, Baltimore 1977, 187-8.
8. See O. Temkin, Hippocrates in the World of Pagans and Christians, Baltimore, 1991, 8-9; idem. The Double face of Janus and Other Essays in the History of Medicine, Baltimore 1977, 187-8.
9. There is no special epistemological problem associated with recognizing therapeutic 'success' in pre-modern medicine. From within a modernist and realist perspective, it is not difficult to identify pre-modern practices that 'worked' and plausible reasons that might save cherished intellectual principles when interventions 'did not work': see, for example, E. H. Ackerknecht, Medicine and Ethnology: Selected Essays (ed. H. H. Walser and H. M. Koelbing), Baltimore, 1971, 120-34. When that realism is supplemented by a symbolic and cultural framework, 'working' is recognized as dramatically visible - as when purgatives, emetics and carminatives visibly, and sometimes spectacularly, 'worked' on the body: see C. E. Rosenberg, 'The therapeutic revolution: medicine, meaning, and social change in nineteenth-century America', Perspectives in Biology and Medicine (1977), 20, 485-506 (reprinted in idem, Explaining Epidemics and Other Studies in the History of Medicine [Cambridge, 1992], 9-31); and, for sociological sensibilities towards knowledge and its efficacy, see M. J. Mulkay, 'Knowledge and utility: implications for the sociology of knowledge', Social Studies of Science (1977), 9, 63-80.
10. There is no special epistemological problem associated with recognizing therapeutic 'success' in pre-modern medicine. From within a modernist and realist perspective, it is not difficult to identify pre-modern practices that 'worked' and plausible reasons that might save cherished intellectual principles when interventions 'did not work': see, for example, E. H. Ackerknecht, Medicine and Ethnology: Selected Essays (ed. H. H. Walser and H. M. Koelbing), Baltimore, 1971, 120-34. When that realism is supplemented by a symbolic and cultural framework, 'working' is recognized as dramatically visible - as when purgatives, emetics and carminatives visibly, and sometimes spectacularly, 'worked' on the body: see C. E. Rosenberg, 'The therapeutic revolution: medicine, meaning, and social change in nineteenth-century America', Perspectives in Biology and Medicine (1977), 20, 485-506 (reprinted in idem, Explaining Epidemics and Other Studies in the History of Medicine [Cambridge, 1992], 9-31); and, for sociological sensibilities towards knowledge and its efficacy, see M. J. Mulkay, 'Knowledge and utility: implications for the sociology of knowledge', Social Studies of Science (1977), 9, 63-80.
11. There is no special epistemological problem associated with recognizing therapeutic 'success' in pre-modern medicine. From within a modernist and realist perspective, it is not difficult to identify pre-modern practices that 'worked' and plausible reasons that might save cherished intellectual principles when interventions 'did not work': see, for example, E. H. Ackerknecht, Medicine and Ethnology: Selected Essays (ed. H. H. Walser and H. M. Koelbing), Baltimore, 1971, 120-34. When that realism is supplemented by a symbolic and cultural framework, 'working' is recognized as dramatically visible - as when purgatives, emetics and carminatives visibly, and sometimes spectacularly, 'worked' on the body: see C. E. Rosenberg, 'The therapeutic revolution: medicine, meaning, and social change in nineteenth-century America', Perspectives in Biology and Medicine (1977), 20, 485-506 (reprinted in idem, Explaining Epidemics and Other Studies in the History of Medicine [Cambridge, 1992], 9-31); and, for sociological sensibilities towards knowledge and its efficacy, see M. J. Mulkay, 'Knowledge and utility: implications for the sociology of knowledge', Social Studies of Science (1977), 9, 63-80.
12. There is no special epistemological problem associated with recognizing therapeutic 'success' in pre-modern medicine. From within a modernist and realist perspective, it is not difficult to identify pre-modern practices that 'worked' and plausible reasons that might save cherished intellectual principles when interventions 'did not work': see, for example, E. H. Ackerknecht, Medicine and Ethnology: Selected Essays (ed. H. H. Walser and H. M. Koelbing), Baltimore, 1971, 120-34. When that realism is supplemented by a symbolic and cultural framework, 'working' is recognized as dramatically visible - as when purgatives, emetics and carminatives visibly, and sometimes spectacularly, 'worked' on the body: see C. E. Rosenberg, 'The therapeutic revolution: medicine, meaning, and social change in nineteenth-century America', Perspectives in Biology and Medicine (1977), 20, 485-506 (reprinted in idem, Explaining Epidemics and Other Studies in the History of Medicine [Cambridge, 1992], 9-31); and, for sociological sensibilities towards knowledge and its efficacy, see M. J. Mulkay, 'Knowledge and utility: implications for the sociology of knowledge', Social Studies of Science (1977), 9, 63-80.
13. For an entry into the large secondary literature on medicine and natural philosophy in the Scientific Revolution, see the fine essay by H. J. Cook, 'The new philosophy and medicine in seventeenth-century England', in D. C. Lindberg and R. S. Westman (eds.), Reappraisals of the Scientific Revolution, Cambridge, 1990, 397-436; also idem, 'Physicians and the new philosophy: Henry Stubbe and the virtuosi-physicians', in R. French and A. Wear (eds.), The Medical Revolution of the Seventeenth Century, Cambridge, 1989, 246-71; T. M. Brown, 'The College of Physicians and the acceptance of iatro-mechanism in England, 1665-1695', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1970), 44, 12-30; idem, 'Physiology and the mechanical philosophy in mid-seventeenth-century England', ibid. (1977), 51, 25-54.
14. For an entry into the large secondary literature on medicine and natural philosophy in the Scientific Revolution, see the fine essay by H. J. Cook, 'The new philosophy and medicine in seventeenth-century England', in D. C. Lindberg and R. S. Westman (eds.), Reappraisals of the Scientific Revolution, Cambridge, 1990, 397-436; also idem, 'Physicians and the new philosophy: Henry Stubbe and the virtuosi-physicians', in R. French and A. Wear (eds.), The Medical Revolution of the Seventeenth Century, Cambridge, 1989, 246-71; T. M. Brown, 'The College of Physicians and the acceptance of iatro-mechanism in England, 1665-1695', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1970), 44, 12-30; idem, 'Physiology and the mechanical philosophy in mid-seventeenth-century England', ibid. (1977), 51, 25-54.
15. For an entry into the large secondary literature on medicine and natural philosophy in the Scientific Revolution, see the fine essay by H. J. Cook, 'The new philosophy and medicine in seventeenth-century England', in D. C. Lindberg and R. S. Westman (eds.), Reappraisals of the Scientific Revolution, Cambridge, 1990, 397-436; also idem, 'Physicians and the new philosophy: Henry Stubbe and the virtuosi-physicians', in R. French and A. Wear (eds.), The Medical Revolution of the Seventeenth Century, Cambridge, 1989, 246-71; T. M. Brown, 'The College of Physicians and the acceptance of iatro-mechanism in England, 1665-1695', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1970), 44, 12-30; idem, 'Physiology and the mechanical philosophy in mid-seventeenth-century England', ibid. (1977), 51, 25-54.
16. For an entry into the large secondary literature on medicine and natural philosophy in the Scientific Revolution, see the fine essay by H. J. Cook, 'The new philosophy and medicine in seventeenth-century England', in D. C. Lindberg and R. S. Westman (eds.), Reappraisals of the Scientific Revolution, Cambridge, 1990, 397-436; also idem, 'Physicians and the new philosophy: Henry Stubbe and the virtuosi-physicians', in R. French and A. Wear (eds.), The Medical Revolution of the Seventeenth Century, Cambridge, 1989, 246-71; T. M. Brown, 'The College of Physicians and the acceptance of iatro-mechanism in England, 1665-1695', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1970), 44, 12-30; idem, 'Physiology and the mechanical philosophy in mid-seventeenth-century England', ibid. (1977), 51, 25-54.
17. The 'Epistle dedicatory' to Hobbes's 'De corpore' (in The English Works of Thomas Hobbes (ed. Sir W. Molesworth), 11 vols., London, 1839-45, i), referred (p. viii) to 'the science of man's body' as 'the most profitable part of natural science', but specified that this science was 'first discovered' by Harvey. That science, Hobbes continued (p. xi), has been advanced in our times 'by the wit and industry of physicians, the only true natural philosophers, especially of our most learned men of the College of Physicians in London'. Hobbes had very little to say about medicine and it is not included in his map of the branches of philosophy in Chapter 9 of Leviathan, (ed. C.B. Macpherson), Harmondsworth, 1968 (originally published 1651), 149. For the significance of this omission, see Tom Sorell, 'Hobbes's scheme of the sciences', in idem, (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Hobbes, Cambridge, 1996, 45-61, 52-4. For scattered remarks on Hobbes's diet and regimen of health, see A. A. Rogow, Thomas Hobbes: Radical in the Service of Reaction, New York, 1986, 224-6.
18. The 'Epistle dedicatory' to Hobbes's 'De corpore' (in The English Works of Thomas Hobbes (ed. Sir W. Molesworth), 11 vols., London, 1839-45, i), referred (p. viii) to 'the science of man's body' as 'the most profitable part of natural science', but specified that this science was 'first discovered' by Harvey. That science, Hobbes continued (p. xi), has been advanced in our times 'by the wit and industry of physicians, the only true natural philosophers, especially of our most learned men of the College of Physicians in London'. Hobbes had very little to say about medicine and it is not included in his map of the branches of philosophy in Chapter 9 of Leviathan, (ed. C.B. Macpherson), Harmondsworth, 1968 (originally published 1651), 149. For the significance of this omission, see Tom Sorell, 'Hobbes's scheme of the sciences', in idem, (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Hobbes, Cambridge, 1996, 45-61, 52-4. For scattered remarks on Hobbes's diet and regimen of health, see A. A. Rogow, Thomas Hobbes: Radical in the Service of Reaction, New York, 1986, 224-6.
19. The 'Epistle dedicatory' to Hobbes's 'De corpore' (in The English Works of Thomas Hobbes (ed. Sir W. Molesworth), 11 vols., London, 1839-45, i), referred (p. viii) to 'the science of man's body' as 'the most profitable part of natural science', but specified that this science was 'first discovered' by Harvey. That science, Hobbes continued (p. xi), has been advanced in our times 'by the wit and industry of physicians, the only true natural philosophers, especially of our most learned men of the College of Physicians in London'. Hobbes had very little to say about medicine and it is not included in his map of the branches of philosophy in Chapter 9 of Leviathan, (ed. C.B. Macpherson), Harmondsworth, 1968 (originally published 1651), 149. For the significance of this omission, see Tom Sorell, 'Hobbes's scheme of the sciences', in idem, (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Hobbes, Cambridge, 1996, 45-61, 52-4. For scattered remarks on Hobbes's diet and regimen of health, see A. A. Rogow, Thomas Hobbes: Radical in the Service of Reaction, New York, 1986, 224-6.
20. Of course, as in antiquity, while those early moderns able to afford their services did employ professional physicians, the practice of diagnosing and treating oneself was common.
21. Francis Bacon, 'The advancement of learning [Books I-II] ', in The Philosophical Works of Francis Bacon, (ed. J. Spedding, R. L. Ellis and D. D. Heath), 5 ivols., London, 1857-8, iii, 253-491, 367, 373.
22. Francis Bacon, 'Of the dignity and advancement of learning, Book IV, in idem, Philosophical Works, op. cit. (10), iv, 372-404, 390; idem, 'The history of life and death', ibid., v, 213-335. See also Graham Rees's introductory essay to his edition of Bacon's De vijs mortis: Bacon, Philosophical Studies c. 1611-c. 1619, (ed. G. Rees), Oxford, 1996, pp. xvii-cx. For documentation of seventeenth-century English medical concern with the prolongation of life, see C. Webster, The Great Instauration: Science, Medicine and Reform 1626-1660, London, 1975, 246-323.
23. Francis Bacon, 'Of the dignity and advancement of learning, Book IV, in idem, Philosophical Works, op. cit. (10), iv, 372-404, 390; idem, 'The history of life and death', ibid., v, 213-335. See also Graham Rees's introductory essay to his edition of Bacon's De vijs mortis: Bacon, Philosophical Studies c. 1611-c. 1619, (ed. G. Rees), Oxford, 1996, pp. xvii-cx. For documentation of seventeenth-century English medical concern with the prolongation of life, see C. Webster, The Great Instauration: Science, Medicine and Reform 1626-1660, London, 1975, 246-323.
24. Francis Bacon, 'Of the dignity and advancement of learning, Book IV, in idem, Philosophical Works, op. cit. (10), iv, 372-404, 390; idem, 'The history of life and death', ibid., v, 213-335. See also Graham Rees's introductory essay to his edition of Bacon's De vijs mortis: Bacon, Philosophical Studies c. 1611-c. 1619, (ed. G. Rees), Oxford, 1996, pp. xvii-cx. For documentation of seventeenth-century English medical concern with the prolongation of life, see C. Webster, The Great Instauration: Science, Medicine and Reform 1626-1660, London, 1975, 246-323.
25. Francis Bacon, 'Of the dignity and advancement of learning, Book IV, in idem, Philosophical Works, op. cit. (10), iv, 372-404, 390; idem, 'The history of life and death', ibid., v, 213-335. See also Graham Rees's introductory essay to his edition of Bacon's De vijs mortis: Bacon, Philosophical Studies c. 1611-c. 1619, (ed. G. Rees), Oxford, 1996, pp. xvii-cx. For documentation of seventeenth-century English medical concern with the prolongation of life, see C. Webster, The Great Instauration: Science, Medicine and Reform 1626-1660, London, 1975, 246-323.
26. Robert Boyle, 'Usefulness of experimental natural philosophy', in idem, The Works of the Honourable Robert Boyle, (ed. Thomas Birch), 2nd edn., 6 vols., London, 1772, ii, 1-246, 66; see also 185-6: it is scarce to be expected, that till men have a better knowledge of the principles of natural philosophy,...it is hard to arrive at a more comprehensive theory of the various possible causes of diseases, and of the contrivance and uses of the parts of the body, the method which supposes this knowledge should be other than in many things defective, and in some erroneous. See also ibid., 199, quoting Celsus: 'The contemplation of nature, though it maketh not a physician, yet it fits him to learn physick.' Boyle went on: 'A deeper insight into nature may enable men to apply the physiological discoveries made by it (though some more immediately, and some less directly) to the advancement and improvement of physick.' Also ibid., 201, on 'the ineffectualness of our vulgar medicines, not only Galenical, but chymical'; and see M. Hunter, 'Boyle versus the Galenists: a suppressed critique of seventeenth-century medical practice and its significance', Medical History (1997), 41, 322-61.
27. Robert Boyle, 'Usefulness of experimental natural philosophy', in idem, The Works of the Honourable Robert Boyle, (ed. Thomas Birch), 2nd edn., 6 vols., London, 1772, ii, 1-246, 66; see also 185-6: it is scarce to be expected, that till men have a better knowledge of the principles of natural philosophy,...it is hard to arrive at a more comprehensive theory of the various possible causes of diseases, and of the contrivance and uses of the parts of the body, the method which supposes this knowledge should be other than in many things defective, and in some erroneous. See also ibid., 199, quoting Celsus: 'The contemplation of nature, though it maketh not a physician, yet it fits him to learn physick.' Boyle went on: 'A deeper insight into nature may enable men to apply the physiological discoveries made by it (though some more immediately, and some less directly) to the advancement and improvement of physick.' Also ibid., 201, on 'the ineffectualness of our vulgar medicines, not only Galenical, but chymical'; and see M. Hunter, 'Boyle versus the Galenists: a suppressed critique of seventeenth-century medical practice and its significance', Medical History (1997), 41, 322-61.
28. Boyle's therapeutic activism sat alongside considerable stress on the curative power of nature: see B. B. Kaplan, 'Divulging of Useful Truths in Physick': The Medical Agenda of Robert Boyle, Baltimore, 1993, especially Chapter 5. What Boyle called the body's 'strainers' (e.g. the liver, spleen and kidneys) can alter a medicine's corpuscular texture or recombine it with other corpuscles, thus admitting it to certain bodily sites and not others. Or the specific medicine might itself 'restore the strainers to their right tone and texture' (Boyle, op. cit. (12), 192). Boyle was sceptical of Paracelsian and Helmontian talk of a 'universal medicine' (ibid., 196-7).
29. Boyle's therapeutic activism sat alongside considerable stress on the curative power of nature: see B. B. Kaplan, 'Divulging of Useful Truths in Physick': The Medical Agenda of Robert Boyle, Baltimore, 1993, especially Chapter 5. What Boyle called the body's 'strainers' (e.g. the liver, spleen and kidneys) can alter a medicine's corpuscular texture or recombine it with other corpuscles, thus admitting it to certain bodily sites and not others. Or the specific medicine might itself 'restore the strainers to their right tone and texture' (Boyle, op. cit. (12), 192). Boyle was sceptical of Paracelsian and Helmontian talk of a 'universal medicine' (ibid., 196-7).
30. Boyle's therapeutic activism sat alongside considerable stress on the curative power of nature: see B. B. Kaplan, 'Divulging of Useful Truths in Physick': The Medical Agenda of Robert Boyle, Baltimore, 1993, especially Chapter 5. What Boyle called the body's 'strainers' (e.g. the liver, spleen and kidneys) can alter a medicine's corpuscular texture or recombine it with other corpuscles, thus admitting it to certain bodily sites and not others. Or the specific medicine might itself 'restore the strainers to their right tone and texture' (Boyle, op. cit. (12), 192). Boyle was sceptical of Paracelsian and Helmontian talk of a 'universal medicine' (ibid., 196-7).
31. Boyle, op. cit. (12), 65, 112.
32. René Descartes, Discourse on the Method, published in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes (hereafter PWD), (trans. J. Cottingham, R. Stoothoff and D. Murdoch), 3 vols., Cambridge, 1985-91, i, 111-51, 142-3. Note also that Descartes claimed that medicine had the capacity to make 'men in general wiser and more skilful ' since 'the mind depends so much on the temperament and disposition of the bodily organs', so that one could imagine a virtuous cycle in which the practitioners of reformed medicine would become more clever and, hence, capable of making even more discoveries, which would in turn make them cleverer still. See also G. Rodis-Lewis, Descartes: His Life and Thought (trans. J. M. Todd), Ithaca, 1998, 127-8; and Temkin, Hippocrates, op. cit. (5), 13 (for the ancient view that 'human intelligence could be changed by diet').
33. René Descartes, Discourse on the Method, published in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes (hereafter PWD), (trans. J. Cottingham, R. Stoothoff and D. Murdoch), 3 vols., Cambridge, 1985-91, i, 111-51, 142-3. Note also that Descartes claimed that medicine had the capacity to make 'men in general wiser and more skilful ' since 'the mind depends so much on the temperament and disposition of the bodily organs', so that one could imagine a virtuous cycle in which the practitioners of reformed medicine would become more clever and, hence, capable of making even more discoveries, which would in turn make them cleverer still. See also G. Rodis-Lewis, Descartes: His Life and Thought (trans. J. M. Todd), Ithaca, 1998, 127-8; and Temkin, Hippocrates, op. cit. (5), 13 (for the ancient view that 'human intelligence could be changed by diet').
34. René Descartes, Discourse on the Method, published in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes (hereafter PWD), (trans. J. Cottingham, R. Stoothoff and D. Murdoch), 3 vols., Cambridge, 1985-91, i, 111-51, 142-3. Note also that Descartes claimed that medicine had the capacity to make 'men in general wiser and more skilful ' since 'the mind depends so much on the temperament and disposition of the bodily organs', so that one could imagine a virtuous cycle in which the practitioners of reformed medicine would become more clever and, hence, capable of making even more discoveries, which would in turn make them cleverer still. See also G. Rodis-Lewis, Descartes: His Life and Thought (trans. J. M. Todd), Ithaca, 1998, 127-8; and Temkin, Hippocrates, op. cit. (5), 13 (for the ancient view that 'human intelligence could be changed by diet').
35. Descartes, Discourse, op. cit. (15), 143, 151. Descartes's medical promises, and especially his views about the extension of human life, are briefly sketched in G. J. Gruman, A History of Ideas about the Prolongation of Life, New York, 1977 (originally published 1966), 77-80.
36. Descartes, Discourse, op. cit. (15), 143, 151. Descartes's medical promises, and especially his views about the extension of human life, are briefly sketched in G. J. Gruman, A History of Ideas about the Prolongation of Life, New York, 1977 (originally published 1966), 77-80.
37. Descartes, Discourse, op. cit. (15), 113; S. Gaukroger, Descartes: An Intellectual Biography, Oxford, 1995, 20, 64 (generally endorsing the idea that Descartes formally studied medicine), and Rodis-Lewis, op. cit. (15), pp. vii, ix, 1-2, 18-19; and idem, 'Descartes' life and the development of his philosophy', in J. Cottingham (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Descartes, Cambridge, 1992, 21-57, 28-9 (judging it unlikely that Descartes did study medicine and disputing traditional early datings of his medical interests).
38. Descartes, Discourse, op. cit. (15), 113; S. Gaukroger, Descartes: An Intellectual Biography, Oxford, 1995, 20, 64 (generally endorsing the idea that Descartes formally studied medicine), and Rodis-Lewis, op. cit. (15), pp. vii, ix, 1-2, 18-19; and idem, 'Descartes' life and the development of his philosophy', in J. Cottingham (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Descartes, Cambridge, 1992, 21-57, 28-9 (judging it unlikely that Descartes did study medicine and disputing traditional early datings of his medical interests).
39. Descartes, Discourse, op. cit. (15), 113; S. Gaukroger, Descartes: An Intellectual Biography, Oxford, 1995, 20, 64 (generally endorsing the idea that Descartes formally studied medicine), and Rodis-Lewis, op. cit. (15), pp. vii, ix, 1-2, 18-19; and idem, 'Descartes' life and the development of his philosophy', in J. Cottingham (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Descartes, Cambridge, 1992, 21-57, 28-9 (judging it unlikely that Descartes did study medicine and disputing traditional early datings of his medical interests).
40. Descartes, Discourse, op. cit. (15), 113; S. Gaukroger, Descartes: An Intellectual Biography, Oxford, 1995, 20, 64 (generally endorsing the idea that Descartes formally studied medicine), and Rodis-Lewis, op. cit. (15), pp. vii, ix, 1-2, 18-19; and idem, 'Descartes' life and the development of his philosophy', in J. Cottingham (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Descartes, Cambridge, 1992, 21-57, 28-9 (judging it unlikely that Descartes did study medicine and disputing traditional early datings of his medical interests).
41. Letter from Descartes to Newcastle, October 1645, in PWD iii, 275 (my emphasis); see also R. B. Carter, Descartes' Medical Philosophy: The Organic Solution to the Mind-Body Problem, Baltimore, 1983, 31.
42. Letter from Descartes to Newcastle, October 1645, in PWD iii, 275 (my emphasis); see also R. B. Carter, Descartes' Medical Philosophy: The Organic Solution to the Mind-Body Problem, Baltimore, 1983, 31.
43. Adrien Baillet, The Life of Monsieur Des Cartes ...Translated from the French by S. R., London, 1693 (originally published 1691), 79-80.
44. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, January 1630, in PWD, iii, 17; Baillet, op. cit. (19), 81; G. A. Lindeboom, Descartes and Medicine, Amsterdam, 1979, 43.
45. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, January 1630, in PWD, iii, 17; Baillet, op. cit. (19), 81; G. A. Lindeboom, Descartes and Medicine, Amsterdam, 1979, 43.
46. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, January 1630, in PWD, iii, 17; Baillet, op. cit. (19), 81; G. A. Lindeboom, Descartes and Medicine, Amsterdam, 1979, 43.
47. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, 15 April 1630, in PWD, iii, 21.
48. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, 20 February 1639, in PWD, iii, 134. On Descartes's dissections, see also Descartes to Mersenne, early June 1637, ibid., 59; Baillet, op. cit. (19), 80; T. S. Hall, 'Foreword', in Descartes, Treatise of Man, (ed. and trans. Hall), Cambridge, Mass., 1972, pp. xii-xiii.
49. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, 20 February 1639, in PWD, iii, 134. On Descartes's dissections, see also Descartes to Mersenne, early June 1637, ibid., 59; Baillet, op. cit. (19), 80; T. S. Hall, 'Foreword', in Descartes, Treatise of Man, (ed. and trans. Hall), Cambridge, Mass., 1972, pp. xii-xiii.
50. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, 20 February 1639, in PWD, iii, 134. On Descartes's dissections, see also Descartes to Mersenne, early June 1637, ibid., 59; Baillet, op. cit. (19), 80; T. S. Hall, 'Foreword', in Descartes, Treatise of Man, (ed. and trans. Hall), Cambridge, Mass., 1972, pp. xii-xiii.
51. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, 20 February 1639, in PWD, iii, 134. On Descartes's dissections, see also Descartes to Mersenne, early June 1637, ibid., 59; Baillet, op. cit. (19), 80; T. S. Hall, 'Foreword', in Descartes, Treatise of Man, (ed. and trans. Hall), Cambridge, Mass., 1972, pp. xii-xiii.
52. Descartes, Description of the Human Body, in PWD, i, 313-24, 314.
53. J. Cottingham (ed. and trans.), Descartes' Conversations with Burman, Oxford, 1976, 50. Descartes refused (ibid.) to be drawn on the question of whether 'man was immortal before the Fall'. Although both the fact and the explanation for Edenic immortality was much debated by Renaissance and early modern physicians, Descartes's judgement was that this was 'not a question for the philosopher, but must be left to the theologians'. Frans Burman was a twenty-year-old student who interviewed Descartes in April 1648 at the philosopher's home in Egmond. See also Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 96-7. The 'Preface' to The Passions of the Soul noted that God had undoubtedly provided people 'with all things necessary...to be preserved in perfect health to an extreme old age': what was lacking was the knowledge of what these necessary things were: 'Preface' to Descartes, The Passions of the Soul, (ed. and trans. S. Voss), Indianapolis, 1989 (originally published 1649), 7. For the editor's view that this 'Preface' was probably written by Descartes himself, see ibid., 1, n. 1.
54. J. Cottingham (ed. and trans.), Descartes' Conversations with Burman, Oxford, 1976, 50. Descartes refused (ibid.) to be drawn on the question of whether 'man was immortal before the Fall'. Although both the fact and the explanation for Edenic immortality was much debated by Renaissance and early modern physicians, Descartes's judgement was that this was 'not a question for the philosopher, but must be left to the theologians'. Frans Burman was a twenty-year-old student who interviewed Descartes in April 1648 at the philosopher's home in Egmond. See also Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 96-7. The 'Preface' to The Passions of the Soul noted that God had undoubtedly provided people 'with all things necessary...to be preserved in perfect health to an extreme old age': what was lacking was the knowledge of what these necessary things were: 'Preface' to Descartes, The Passions of the Soul, (ed. and trans. S. Voss), Indianapolis, 1989 (originally published 1649), 7. For the editor's view that this 'Preface' was probably written by Descartes himself, see ibid., 1, n. 1.
55. J. Cottingham (ed. and trans.), Descartes' Conversations with Burman, Oxford, 1976, 50. Descartes refused (ibid.) to be drawn on the question of whether 'man was immortal before the Fall'. Although both the fact and the explanation for Edenic immortality was much debated by Renaissance and early modern physicians, Descartes's judgement was that this was 'not a question for the philosopher, but must be left to the theologians'. Frans Burman was a twenty-year-old student who interviewed Descartes in April 1648 at the philosopher's home in Egmond. See also Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 96-7. The 'Preface' to The Passions of the Soul noted that God had undoubtedly provided people 'with all things necessary...to be preserved in perfect health to an extreme old age': what was lacking was the knowledge of what these necessary things were: 'Preface' to Descartes, The Passions of the Soul, (ed. and trans. S. Voss), Indianapolis, 1989 (originally published 1649), 7. For the editor's view that this 'Preface' was probably written by Descartes himself, see ibid., 1, n. 1.
56. J. Cottingham (ed. and trans.), Descartes' Conversations with Burman, Oxford, 1976, 50. Descartes refused (ibid.) to be drawn on the question of whether 'man was immortal before the Fall'. Although both the fact and the explanation for Edenic immortality was much debated by Renaissance and early modern physicians, Descartes's judgement was that this was 'not a question for the philosopher, but must be left to the theologians'. Frans Burman was a twenty-year-old student who interviewed Descartes in April 1648 at the philosopher's home in Egmond. See also Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 96-7. The 'Preface' to The Passions of the Soul noted that God had undoubtedly provided people 'with all things necessary...to be preserved in perfect health to an extreme old age': what was lacking was the knowledge of what these necessary things were: 'Preface' to Descartes, The Passions of the Soul, (ed. and trans. S. Voss), Indianapolis, 1989 (originally published 1649), 7. For the editor's view that this 'Preface' was probably written by Descartes himself, see ibid., 1, n. 1.
57. Descartes, Principles of Philosophy (extracts), in PWD, i, 179-291, 186. As Richard Carter puts it, for Descartes 'physics deals with the general body out of which particular bodies are formed; medicine deals with particular, mortal bodies that are alive and that have souls united to them': Carter, op. cit. (8), 31. Descartes's well-known stipulation - both in the Principles and in the Treatise of Man - that he was giving an account not of real but of imaginary human bodies did not, in his estimation here, diminish its significance for medical practice. The characteristics he attributed to these imaginary bodies were supposed to be 'such as to correspond accurately with all the phenomena of nature'. And this 'will indeed be sufficient for application in ordinary life, since medicine and mechanics...are directed only towards items that can be perceived with the senses' (Descartes, Principles, 289 [Part IV, section 204]). That is to say, philosophically informed medical interventions might work even if the philosophically posited underlying causal structures were not the real ones. Later I shall note how Descartes came to qualify that optimism.
58. Descartes, Principles of Philosophy (extracts), in PWD, i, 179-291, 186. As Richard Carter puts it, for Descartes 'physics deals with the general body out of which particular bodies are formed; medicine deals with particular, mortal bodies that are alive and that have souls united to them': Carter, op. cit. (8), 31. Descartes's well-known stipulation - both in the Principles and in the Treatise of Man - that he was giving an account not of real but of imaginary human bodies did not, in his estimation here, diminish its significance for medical practice. The characteristics he attributed to these imaginary bodies were supposed to be 'such as to correspond accurately with all the phenomena of nature'. And this 'will indeed be sufficient for application in ordinary life, since medicine and mechanics...are directed only towards items that can be perceived with the senses' (Descartes, Principles, 289 [Part IV, section 204]). That is to say, philosophically informed medical interventions might work even if the philosophically posited underlying causal structures were not the real ones. Later I shall note how Descartes came to qualify that optimism.
59. Descartes, Principles of Philosophy (extracts), in PWD, i, 179-291, 186. As Richard Carter puts it, for Descartes 'physics deals with the general body out of which particular bodies are formed; medicine deals with particular, mortal bodies that are alive and that have souls united to them': Carter, op. cit. (8), 31. Descartes's well-known stipulation - both in the Principles and in the Treatise of Man - that he was giving an account not of real but of imaginary human bodies did not, in his estimation here, diminish its significance for medical practice. The characteristics he attributed to these imaginary bodies were supposed to be 'such as to correspond accurately with all the phenomena of nature'. And this 'will indeed be sufficient for application in ordinary life, since medicine and mechanics...are directed only towards items that can be perceived with the senses' (Descartes, Principles, 289 [Part IV, section 204]). That is to say, philosophically informed medical interventions might work even if the philosophically posited underlying causal structures were not the real ones. Later I shall note how Descartes came to qualify that optimism.
60. 'Preface' to Descartes, Passions, op. cit. (24), 7.
61. R. French, 'Harvey in Holland: circulation and the Calvinists', in French and Wear (eds.), op. cit. (7), 46-86, 53-4; also Baillet, op. cit. (19), 121-2, 127-8.
62. R. French, 'Harvey in Holland: circulation and the Calvinists', in French and Wear (eds.), op. cit. (7), 46-86, 53-4; also Baillet, op. cit. (19), 121-2, 127-8.
63. Descartes, Description, op. cit. (23), 319.
64. And also how Descartes distinguished his cardiac physiology from Harvey's. See also Descartes, Passions, op. cit. (24), 21-2; idem, Description, op. cit. (23), Part II. Also T. S. Hall, 'The physiology of Descartes', in Descartes, Treatise, op. cit. (22), pp. xxvi-xxxiii; idem, History of General Physiology, 2 vols., Chicago, 1975, i, 250-64; G. Hatfield, 'Descartes' physiology and its relation to his psychology', in J. Cottingham (ed.), op. cit. (17), 335-70; Gaukroger, op. cit. (17), 269-76. For the physiological writings of Descartes's major medical disciple, the Utrecht professor of theoretical medicine Henricus Regius, see T. Verbeek, Descartes and the Dutch: Early Reactions to Cartesian Philosophy, 1637-1650, Carbondale, IL, 1992, Chapter 2.
65. And also how Descartes distinguished his cardiac physiology from Harvey's. See also Descartes, Passions, op. cit. (24), 21-2; idem, Description, op. cit. (23), Part II. Also T. S. Hall, 'The physiology of Descartes', in Descartes, Treatise, op. cit. (22), pp. xxvi-xxxiii; idem, History of General Physiology, 2 vols., Chicago, 1975, i, 250-64; G. Hatfield, 'Descartes' physiology and its relation to his psychology', in J. Cottingham (ed.), op. cit. (17), 335-70; Gaukroger, op. cit. (17), 269-76. For the physiological writings of Descartes's major medical disciple, the Utrecht professor of theoretical medicine Henricus Regius, see T. Verbeek, Descartes and the Dutch: Early Reactions to Cartesian Philosophy, 1637-1650, Carbondale, IL, 1992, Chapter 2.
66. And also how Descartes distinguished his cardiac physiology from Harvey's. See also Descartes, Passions, op. cit. (24), 21-2; idem, Description, op. cit. (23), Part II. Also T. S. Hall, 'The physiology of Descartes', in Descartes, Treatise, op. cit. (22), pp. xxvi-xxxiii; idem, History of General Physiology, 2 vols., Chicago, 1975, i, 250-64; G. Hatfield, 'Descartes' physiology and its relation to his psychology', in J. Cottingham (ed.), op. cit. (17), 335-70; Gaukroger, op. cit. (17), 269-76. For the physiological writings of Descartes's major medical disciple, the Utrecht professor of theoretical medicine Henricus Regius, see T. Verbeek, Descartes and the Dutch: Early Reactions to Cartesian Philosophy, 1637-1650, Carbondale, IL, 1992, Chapter 2.
67. And also how Descartes distinguished his cardiac physiology from Harvey's. See also Descartes, Passions, op. cit. (24), 21-2; idem, Description, op. cit. (23), Part II. Also T. S. Hall, 'The physiology of Descartes', in Descartes, Treatise, op. cit. (22), pp. xxvi-xxxiii; idem, History of General Physiology, 2 vols., Chicago, 1975, i, 250-64; G. Hatfield, 'Descartes' physiology and its relation to his psychology', in J. Cottingham (ed.), op. cit. (17), 335-70; Gaukroger, op. cit. (17), 269-76. For the physiological writings of Descartes's major medical disciple, the Utrecht professor of theoretical medicine Henricus Regius, see T. Verbeek, Descartes and the Dutch: Early Reactions to Cartesian Philosophy, 1637-1650, Carbondale, IL, 1992, Chapter 2.
68. And also how Descartes distinguished his cardiac physiology from Harvey's. See also Descartes, Passions, op. cit. (24), 21-2; idem, Description, op. cit. (23), Part II. Also T. S. Hall, 'The physiology of Descartes', in Descartes, Treatise, op. cit. (22), pp. xxvi-xxxiii; idem, History of General Physiology, 2 vols., Chicago, 1975, i, 250-64; G. Hatfield, 'Descartes' physiology and its relation to his psychology', in J. Cottingham (ed.), op. cit. (17), 335-70; Gaukroger, op. cit. (17), 269-76. For the physiological writings of Descartes's major medical disciple, the Utrecht professor of theoretical medicine Henricus Regius, see T. Verbeek, Descartes and the Dutch: Early Reactions to Cartesian Philosophy, 1637-1650, Carbondale, IL, 1992, Chapter 2.
69. And also how Descartes distinguished his cardiac physiology from Harvey's. See also Descartes, Passions, op. cit. (24), 21-2; idem, Description, op. cit. (23), Part II. Also T. S. Hall, 'The physiology of Descartes', in Descartes, Treatise, op. cit. (22), pp. xxvi-xxxiii; idem, History of General Physiology, 2 vols., Chicago, 1975, i, 250-64; G. Hatfield, 'Descartes' physiology and its relation to his psychology', in J. Cottingham (ed.), op. cit. (17), 335-70; Gaukroger, op. cit. (17), 269-76. For the physiological writings of Descartes's major medical disciple, the Utrecht professor of theoretical medicine Henricus Regius, see T. Verbeek, Descartes and the Dutch: Early Reactions to Cartesian Philosophy, 1637-1650, Carbondale, IL, 1992, Chapter 2.
70. And also how Descartes distinguished his cardiac physiology from Harvey's. See also Descartes, Passions, op. cit. (24), 21-2; idem, Description, op. cit. (23), Part II. Also T. S. Hall, 'The physiology of Descartes', in Descartes, Treatise, op. cit. (22), pp. xxvi-xxxiii; idem, History of General Physiology, 2 vols., Chicago, 1975, i, 250-64; G. Hatfield, 'Descartes' physiology and its relation to his psychology', in J. Cottingham (ed.), op. cit. (17), 335-70; Gaukroger, op. cit. (17), 269-76. For the physiological writings of Descartes's major medical disciple, the Utrecht professor of theoretical medicine Henricus Regius, see T. Verbeek, Descartes and the Dutch: Early Reactions to Cartesian Philosophy, 1637-1650, Carbondale, IL, 1992, Chapter 2.
71. French, op. cit. (27), 50-1; T . S. Hall, 'First French edition: synopsis of contents', in Descartes, Treatise, op. cit. (22), p. xxxvi.
72. French, op. cit. (27), 50-1; T . S. Hall, 'First French edition: synopsis of contents', in Descartes, Treatise, op. cit. (22), p. xxxvi.
73. Descartes, Description, op. cit. (23), 316, 319.
74. The most important site of such discussion is Descartes's late writings on the passions of the soul (to be treated below).
75. Letter from Descartes to Newcastle, October 1645, in PWD, iii, 275-6.
76. Descartes, Conversations, op. cit. (24), 51. The source is in fact Suetonius' life of Tiberius. See also Baillet, op. cit. (19), 260 (who put Descartes's age at 19 or 20 when he came to that opinion); Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 94-5; Rodis-Lewis, op. cit. (15), 19.
77. Descartes, Conversations, op. cit. (24), 51. The source is in fact Suetonius' life of Tiberius. See also Baillet, op. cit. (19), 260 (who put Descartes's age at 19 or 20 when he came to that opinion); Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 94-5; Rodis-Lewis, op. cit. (15), 19.
78. Descartes, Conversations, op. cit. (24), 51. The source is in fact Suetonius' life of Tiberius. See also Baillet, op. cit. (19), 260 (who put Descartes's age at 19 or 20 when he came to that opinion); Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 94-5; Rodis-Lewis, op. cit. (15), 19.
79. Descartes, Conversations, op. cit. (24), 51. The source is in fact Suetonius' life of Tiberius. See also Baillet, op. cit. (19), 260 (who put Descartes's age at 19 or 20 when he came to that opinion); Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 94-5; Rodis-Lewis, op. cit. (15), 19.
80. Letter from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, May or June 1645, in PWD, iii, 251.
81. His mother's disease was caused, he said, by 'distress' (déplaisirs). See also Descartes to Mersenne, 30 July 1640, ibid., 148 (for the maternal role in inheritance),
82. and Baillet, op. cit. (19), 3-5, 260.
83. Baillet, op. cit (19), 14, 66;
84. see also P. Dear, 'A mechanical microcosm: bodily passions, good manners, and Cartesian mechanism', in C. Lawrence and S. Shapin (eds.), Science Incarnate: Historical Embodiments of Natural Knowledge, Chicago, 1998, 51-82, 54-5.
85. Letter from Descartes to Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, 5 April 1631, in PWD, iii, 30; Descartes to Elizabeth, 1 September 1645, ibid., 263;
86. Letter from Descartes to Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, 5 April 1631, in PWD, iii, 30; Descartes to Elizabeth, 1 September 1645, ibid., 263;
87. Baillet, op. cit. (19), 259 (who said that Descartes commonly spent as much as twelve hours a day in bed).
88. Letter from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, 28 June 1643, in PWD, iii, 227; also Baillet, op. cit. (19), 35-6:
89. Letter from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, 28 June 1643, in PWD, iii, 227; also Baillet, op. cit. (19), 35-6:
90. high speculations 'threw his mind into such violent Agitations...He wearied it out to that degree that his brain took fire, and he falls into a spice of enthusiasm'. For the contemporary charge that Descartes was an 'enthusiast', see M. Heyd, 'Be Sober and Reasonable': The Critique of Enthusiasm in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Leiden, 1995, Chapter 4, especially 116-17.
91. For Henry More, Anne Conway and the dietetic management of philosophical heat, see S. Shapin, 'The philosopher and the chicken: on the dietetics of disembodied knowledge', in Lawrence and Shapin (eds.), op. cit. (36), 21-50, 38-40);
92. and, for treatment of pertinent aspects of the relationship between the passions and enthusiasm, see A. Johns, 'The physiology of reading and the anatomy of enthusiasm', in O. P. Grell and A. Cunningham (eds.), Religio Medici: Medicine and Religion in Seventeenth-Century England, Aldershot, 1996, 136-70.
93. Letter from Descartes to Constantijn Huygens, 5 October 1637, in Oeuvres de Descartes (ed. C. Adam and P. Tannery), 11 vols., Paris, 1964-76, ii, 434-5;
94. also Baillet, op. cit. (19), 122, 258.
95. Letter from Descartes to Huygens, 4 December 1637, in PWD, iii, 76; see also Gaukroger, op. cit. (17), 332-3.
96. Letter from Descartes to Huygens, 4 December 1637, in PWD, iii, 76; see also Gaukroger, op. cit. (17), 332-3.
97. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, 9 January 1637, in PWD, iii, 131; also Baillet, op. cit. (19), 23, 260.
98. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, 9 January 1637, in PWD, iii, 131; also Baillet, op. cit. (19), 23, 260.
99. Letter from Descartes to Huygens, 6 June 1639, in PWD, iii, 136.
100. Letter from Huygens to Descartes, 23 November 1637, in Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), i, 463; cf. Huygens to Descartes, 8 September 1637, ibid., 396-7; also Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 44, 96.
101. Letter from Huygens to Descartes, 23 November 1637, in Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), i, 463; cf. Huygens to Descartes, 8 September 1637, ibid., 396-7; also Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 44, 96.
102. Letter from Huygens to Descartes, 23 November 1637, in Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), i, 463; cf. Huygens to Descartes, 8 September 1637, ibid., 396-7; also Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 44, 96.
103. Reported in Pierre Des Maizeaux's Life of St. Evremond (1728) and quoted in Descartes, Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), xi, 671; see also Gruman, op. cit. (16), 79.
104. Reported in Pierre Des Maizeaux's Life of St. Evremond (1728) and quoted in Descartes, Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), xi, 671; see also Gruman, op. cit. (16), 79.
105. See Descartes, Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), xi, 670-1; Adrien Baillet, La vie de Monsieur Des-Cartes, 2 vols., Paris, 1691, ii, 449-54.
106. See Descartes, Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), xi, 670-1; Adrien Baillet, La vie de Monsieur Des-Cartes, 2 vols., Paris, 1691, ii, 449-54.
107. Baillet, op. cit. (19), 252-3;
108. idem, op. cit. (45), ii, 414-23.
109. Reported in Baillet, op. cit. (45), ii, 452-3; also Descartes, Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), ii, 671; and see Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 95. Note that a disease - such as what we would now call pneumonia - that was precipitated by an alteration in regimen, or by exposure to extreme conditions, would then have been regarded as a 'violent' or 'external' cause of death. So Baillet said (op. cit. (19), 252) that Descartes's last illness was partly caused by 'the disorder of [his] regular way of living'. The general idea was that one's natural life span was the length of time one would live without the violent causes that shortened it artificially. The relationship recognized by the early moderns between disease and old age was, however, contested; some saw old age as a disease, others as a state that made one susceptible to disease. See, for representative discussion, Laurent Joubert, Popular Errors, (trans. G. D. de Rocher), Tuscaloosa, AL, 1989 (originally published 1579), 41-3; also M. D. Grmek, On Ageing and Old Age: Basic Problems and Historic Aspects of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 5, No. 2, The Hague, 1958, especially 5-10.
110. Reported in Baillet, op. cit. (45), ii, 452-3; also Descartes, Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), ii, 671; and see Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 95. Note that a disease - such as what we would now call pneumonia - that was precipitated by an alteration in regimen, or by exposure to extreme conditions, would then have been regarded as a 'violent' or 'external' cause of death. So Baillet said (op. cit. (19), 252) that Descartes's last illness was partly caused by 'the disorder of [his] regular way of living'. The general idea was that one's natural life span was the length of time one would live without the violent causes that shortened it artificially. The relationship recognized by the early moderns between disease and old age was, however, contested; some saw old age as a disease, others as a state that made one susceptible to disease. See, for representative discussion, Laurent Joubert, Popular Errors, (trans. G. D. de Rocher), Tuscaloosa, AL, 1989 (originally published 1579), 41-3; also M. D. Grmek, On Ageing and Old Age: Basic Problems and Historic Aspects of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 5, No. 2, The Hague, 1958, especially 5-10.
111. Reported in Baillet, op. cit. (45), ii, 452-3; also Descartes, Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), ii, 671; and see Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 95. Note that a disease - such as what we would now call pneumonia - that was precipitated by an alteration in regimen, or by exposure to extreme conditions, would then have been regarded as a 'violent' or 'external' cause of death. So Baillet said (op. cit. (19), 252) that Descartes's last illness was partly caused by 'the disorder of [his] regular way of living'. The general idea was that one's natural life span was the length of time one would live without the violent causes that shortened it artificially. The relationship recognized by the early moderns between disease and old age was, however, contested; some saw old age as a disease, others as a state that made one susceptible to disease. See, for representative discussion, Laurent Joubert, Popular Errors, (trans. G. D. de Rocher), Tuscaloosa, AL, 1989 (originally published 1579), 41-3; also M. D. Grmek, On Ageing and Old Age: Basic Problems and Historic Aspects of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 5, No. 2, The Hague, 1958, especially 5-10.
112. Reported in Baillet, op. cit. (45), ii, 452-3; also Descartes, Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), ii, 671; and see Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 95. Note that a disease - such as what we would now call pneumonia - that was precipitated by an alteration in regimen, or by exposure to extreme conditions, would then have been regarded as a 'violent' or 'external' cause of death. So Baillet said (op. cit. (19), 252) that Descartes's last illness was partly caused by 'the disorder of [his] regular way of living'. The general idea was that one's natural life span was the length of time one would live without the violent causes that shortened it artificially. The relationship recognized by the early moderns between disease and old age was, however, contested; some saw old age as a disease, others as a state that made one susceptible to disease. See, for representative discussion, Laurent Joubert, Popular Errors, (trans. G. D. de Rocher), Tuscaloosa, AL, 1989 (originally published 1579), 41-3; also M. D. Grmek, On Ageing and Old Age: Basic Problems and Historic Aspects of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 5, No. 2, The Hague, 1958, especially 5-10.
113. Reported in Baillet, op. cit. (45), ii, 452-3; also Descartes, Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), ii, 671; and see Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 95. Note that a disease - such as what we would now call pneumonia - that was precipitated by an alteration in regimen, or by exposure to extreme conditions, would then have been regarded as a 'violent' or 'external' cause of death. So Baillet said (op. cit. (19), 252) that Descartes's last illness was partly caused by 'the disorder of [his] regular way of living'. The general idea was that one's natural life span was the length of time one would live without the violent causes that shortened it artificially. The relationship recognized by the early moderns between disease and old age was, however, contested; some saw old age as a disease, others as a state that made one susceptible to disease. See, for representative discussion, Laurent Joubert, Popular Errors, (trans. G. D. de Rocher), Tuscaloosa, AL, 1989 (originally published 1579), 41-3; also M. D. Grmek, On Ageing and Old Age: Basic Problems and Historic Aspects of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Monographiae Biologicae, Vol. 5, No. 2, The Hague, 1958, especially 5-10.
114. Hector-Pierre Chanut to Princess Elizabeth, 19 February 1650, in Descartes, Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), v , 471; Samuel Sorbière to Pierre Petit, 20 February 1657, in ibid., 485.
115. Hector-Pierre Chanut to Princess Elizabeth, 19 February 1650, in Descartes, Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), v , 471; Samuel Sorbière to Pierre Petit, 20 February 1657, in ibid., 485.
116. Extra ordinarisse Posttijdinghe (10 April 1650); quoted and translated in Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 94.
117. Extra ordinarisse Posttijdinghe (10 April 1650); quoted and translated in Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 94.
118. Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 94; Dear, op. cit. (36), 61-2.
119. Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 94; Dear, op. cit. (36), 61-2.
120. For the circumstances of, and stories about, Descartes's death, see especially Gaukroger, op. cit. (17), 415-17,
121. and various sources assembled in Descartes, Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), v, 470-500.
122. Baillet, op. cit. (19), 260. Descartes rarely approved of phlebotomy - which he accounted 'extream dangerous to most People' - though, as noted, he did tolerate moderate bleeding in certain limited circumstances.
123. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, 23 November 1646, in PWD, iii, 301; Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 44.
124. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, 23 November 1646, in PWD, iii, 301; Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 44.
125. Around the same time, in a case of nosebleed, Descartes warned against the use of wine, vinegar, mustard and saffron. A small amount of blood might be let, but care had to be taken to take blood from the foot on the same side of the body as the bleeding nostril: Descartes to [Boswell?], [1646?], in Descartes, Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), iv, 694-700, 698-9; Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 43-4.
126. Around the same time, in a case of nosebleed, Descartes warned against the use of wine, vinegar, mustard and saffron. A small amount of blood might be let, but care had to be taken to take blood from the foot on the same side of the body as the bleeding nostril: Descartes to [Boswell?], [1646?], in Descartes, Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), iv, 694-700, 698-9; Lindeboom, op. cit. (20), 43-4.
127. Letter from Jacqueline Pascal to her sister Gilberte Périer, 25 September 1647, in Lettres, Opuscules et Mémoires de Madame Perier et de Jacqueline, sœurs de Pascal, et de Marguerite Perier, sa nièce (ed. M. P. Faugère), Paris, 1845, 309-12.
128. Pascal suffered badly from dyspepsia and migraine, and, from around the time he met Descartes, probably from a kind of motor neuropathy. For an account of this momentous meeting - at which Descartes (as he later claimed) suggested the Puy-de-Dôme experiment - see Rodis-Lewis, op. cit. (15), 178-81;
129. also E. T. Bell, Men of Mathematics, New York, 1937, 80.
130. Letter from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, December 1646, in PWD, iii, 304-5; Baillet, op. cit. (19), 260.
131. Letter from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, December 1646, in PWD, iii, 304-5; Baillet, op. cit. (19), 260.
132. Baillet, op. cit. (45), ii, 452. For notes on materia medica by Descartes, see 'Remedia, et vires medicamentorum', in Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), xi, 641-4; also idem, 'Excerpta anatomica', in ibid., 543-634, 606.
133. Baillet, op. cit. (45), ii, 452. For notes on materia medica by Descartes, see 'Remedia, et vires medicamentorum', in Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), xi, 641-4; also idem, 'Excerpta anatomica', in ibid., 543-634, 606.
134. Baillet, op. cit. (45), ii, 452. For notes on materia medica by Descartes, see 'Remedia, et vires medicamentorum', in Oeuvres, op. cit. (39), xi, 641-4; also idem, 'Excerpta anatomica', in ibid., 543-634, 606.
135. Letter from Descartes [to Alphonse Pollot], mid-January 1641, in PWD, iii, 168.
136. Letters from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, May or June 1645, in PWD, iii, 250; July 1645, in ibid., 255; October or November 1646, in ibid., 298. See in this connection L. W. B. Brockliss, 'The development of the spa in seventeenth-century France', in R. Porter (ed.), The Medical History of Waters and Spas, Medical History Supplement No. 10 (1990), 23-47.
137. Letters from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, May or June 1645, in PWD, iii, 250; July 1645, in ibid., 255; October or November 1646, in ibid., 298. See in this connection L. W. B. Brockliss, 'The development of the spa in seventeenth-century France', in R. Porter (ed.), The Medical History of Waters and Spas, Medical History Supplement No. 10 (1990), 23-47.
138. Letters from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, May or June 1645, in PWD, iii, 250; July 1645, in ibid., 255; October or November 1646, in ibid., 298. See in this connection L. W. B. Brockliss, 'The development of the spa in seventeenth-century France', in R. Porter (ed.), The Medical History of Waters and Spas, Medical History Supplement No. 10 (1990), 23-47.
139. Letters from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, May or June 1645, in PWD, iii, 250; July 1645, in ibid., 255; October or November 1646, in ibid., 298. See in this connection L. W. B. Brockliss, 'The development of the spa in seventeenth-century France', in R. Porter (ed.), The Medical History of Waters and Spas, Medical History Supplement No. 10 (1990), 23-47.
140. It should go almost without saying that choice in such matters was available only to those classes who had the resources to choose. Medical advice on dietetics and regimen was therefore geared to the élite. On this point, see L. Edelstein, 'The dietetics of antiquity', in idem, Ancient Medicine: Selected Papers of Ludwig Edelstein (ed. O. Temkin and C. L. Temkin), Baltimore, 1967 (essay originally published 1931), 303-16, 305-6; A. Emch-Dériaz, 'The non-naturals made easy', in R. Porter (ed.), The Popularization of Medicine 1650-1850, London, 1992, 134-59, especially 135-6; and W. Coleman, 'Health and hygiene in the Encyclopédie: a medical doctrine for the bourgeoisie', Journal of the History of Medicine (1974), 29, 399-421, 399, 401. The usual list of early modern non-naturals included: ambient air, diet (in the strict sense of meat and drink), sleeping and waking, exercise and rest, retentions and evacuations (including sexual release) and the passions of the mind. For debates over the Galenic sources of the doctrine and phrase, see L. J. Rather, 'The "six things non-natural": a note on the origins and fate of a doctrine and a phrase', Clio Medica (1968), 3, 337-47; S. Jarcho, 'Galen's six non-naturals: a bibliographic note and translation', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1970), 44, 372-7; P. Niebyl, 'The non-naturals', ibid. (1971), 45, 486-92; J. J. Bylebyl, 'Galen on the non-natural causes of variation in the pulse', ibid. (1971), 45, 482-5. deal extensively with early modern polite dietetics in S. Shapin, 'How to eat like a gentleman: dietetics and ethics in early modern England', in C. E. Rosenberg (ed.), Health and the Home, Baltimore, in press.
141. It should go almost without saying that choice in such matters was available only to those classes who had the resources to choose. Medical advice on dietetics and regimen was therefore geared to the élite. On this point, see L. Edelstein, 'The dietetics of antiquity', in idem, Ancient Medicine: Selected Papers of Ludwig Edelstein (ed. O. Temkin and C. L. Temkin), Baltimore, 1967 (essay originally published 1931), 303-16, 305-6; A. Emch-Dériaz, 'The non-naturals made easy', in R. Porter (ed.), The Popularization of Medicine 1650-1850, London, 1992, 134-59, especially 135-6; and W. Coleman, 'Health and hygiene in the Encyclopédie: a medical doctrine for the bourgeoisie', Journal of the History of Medicine (1974), 29, 399-421, 399, 401. The usual list of early modern non-naturals included: ambient air, diet (in the strict sense of meat and drink), sleeping and waking, exercise and rest, retentions and evacuations (including sexual release) and the passions of the mind. For debates over the Galenic sources of the doctrine and phrase, see L. J. Rather, 'The "six things non-natural": a note on the origins and fate of a doctrine and a phrase', Clio Medica (1968), 3, 337-47; S. Jarcho, 'Galen's six non-naturals: a bibliographic note and translation', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1970), 44, 372-7; P. Niebyl, 'The non-naturals', ibid. (1971), 45, 486-92; J. J. Bylebyl, 'Galen on the non-natural causes of variation in the pulse', ibid. (1971), 45, 482-5. deal extensively with early modern polite dietetics in S. Shapin, 'How to eat like a gentleman: dietetics and ethics in early modern England', in C. E. Rosenberg (ed.), Health and the Home, Baltimore, in press.
142. It should go almost without saying that choice in such matters was available only to those classes who had the resources to choose. Medical advice on dietetics and regimen was therefore geared to the élite. On this point, see L. Edelstein, 'The dietetics of antiquity', in idem, Ancient Medicine: Selected Papers of Ludwig Edelstein (ed. O. Temkin and C. L. Temkin), Baltimore, 1967 (essay originally published 1931), 303-16, 305-6; A. Emch-Dériaz, 'The non-naturals made easy', in R. Porter (ed.), The Popularization of Medicine 1650-1850, London, 1992, 134-59, especially 135-6; and W. Coleman, 'Health and hygiene in the Encyclopédie: a medical doctrine for the bourgeoisie', Journal of the History of Medicine (1974), 29, 399-421, 399, 401. The usual list of early modern non-naturals included: ambient air, diet (in the strict sense of meat and drink), sleeping and waking, exercise and rest, retentions and evacuations (including sexual release) and the passions of the mind. For debates over the Galenic sources of the doctrine and phrase, see L. J. Rather, 'The "six things non-natural": a note on the origins and fate of a doctrine and a phrase', Clio Medica (1968), 3, 337-47; S. Jarcho, 'Galen's six non-naturals: a bibliographic note and translation', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1970), 44, 372-7; P. Niebyl, 'The non-naturals', ibid. (1971), 45, 486-92; J. J. Bylebyl, 'Galen on the non-natural causes of variation in the pulse', ibid. (1971), 45, 482-5. deal extensively with early modern polite dietetics in S. Shapin, 'How to eat like a gentleman: dietetics and ethics in early modern England', in C. E. Rosenberg (ed.), Health and the Home, Baltimore, in press.
143. It should go almost without saying that choice in such matters was available only to those classes who had the resources to choose. Medical advice on dietetics and regimen was therefore geared to the élite. On this point, see L. Edelstein, 'The dietetics of antiquity', in idem, Ancient Medicine: Selected Papers of Ludwig Edelstein (ed. O. Temkin and C. L. Temkin), Baltimore, 1967 (essay originally published 1931), 303-16, 305-6; A. Emch-Dériaz, 'The non-naturals made easy', in R. Porter (ed.), The Popularization of Medicine 1650-1850, London, 1992, 134-59, especially 135-6; and W. Coleman, 'Health and hygiene in the Encyclopédie: a medical doctrine for the bourgeoisie', Journal of the History of Medicine (1974), 29, 399-421, 399, 401. The usual list of early modern non-naturals included: ambient air, diet (in the strict sense of meat and drink), sleeping and waking, exercise and rest, retentions and evacuations (including sexual release) and the passions of the mind. For debates over the Galenic sources of the doctrine and phrase, see L. J. Rather, 'The "six things non-natural": a note on the origins and fate of a doctrine and a phrase', Clio Medica (1968), 3, 337-47; S. Jarcho, 'Galen's six non-naturals: a bibliographic note and translation', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1970), 44, 372-7; P. Niebyl, 'The non-naturals', ibid. (1971), 45, 486-92; J. J. Bylebyl, 'Galen on the non-natural causes of variation in the pulse', ibid. (1971), 45, 482-5. deal extensively with early modern polite dietetics in S. Shapin, 'How to eat like a gentleman: dietetics and ethics in early modern England', in C. E. Rosenberg (ed.), Health and the Home, Baltimore, in press.
144. It should go almost without saying that choice in such matters was available only to those classes who had the resources to choose. Medical advice on dietetics and regimen was therefore geared to the élite. On this point, see L. Edelstein, 'The dietetics of antiquity', in idem, Ancient Medicine: Selected Papers of Ludwig Edelstein (ed. O. Temkin and C. L. Temkin), Baltimore, 1967 (essay originally published 1931), 303-16, 305-6; A. Emch-Dériaz, 'The non-naturals made easy', in R. Porter (ed.), The Popularization of Medicine 1650-1850, London, 1992, 134-59, especially 135-6; and W. Coleman, 'Health and hygiene in the Encyclopédie: a medical doctrine for the bourgeoisie', Journal of the History of Medicine (1974), 29, 399-421, 399, 401. The usual list of early modern non-naturals included: ambient air, diet (in the strict sense of meat and drink), sleeping and waking, exercise and rest, retentions and evacuations (including sexual release) and the passions of the mind. For debates over the Galenic sources of the doctrine and phrase, see L. J. Rather, 'The "six things non-natural": a note on the origins and fate of a doctrine and a phrase', Clio Medica (1968), 3, 337-47; S. Jarcho, 'Galen's six non-naturals: a bibliographic note and translation', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1970), 44, 372-7; P. Niebyl, 'The non-naturals', ibid. (1971), 45, 486-92; J. J. Bylebyl, 'Galen on the non-natural causes of variation in the pulse', ibid. (1971), 45, 482-5. deal extensively with early modern polite dietetics in S. Shapin, 'How to eat like a gentleman: dietetics and ethics in early modern England', in C. E. Rosenberg (ed.), Health and the Home, Baltimore, in press.
145. It should go almost without saying that choice in such matters was available only to those classes who had the resources to choose. Medical advice on dietetics and regimen was therefore geared to the élite. On this point, see L. Edelstein, 'The dietetics of antiquity', in idem, Ancient Medicine: Selected Papers of Ludwig Edelstein (ed. O. Temkin and C. L. Temkin), Baltimore, 1967 (essay originally published 1931), 303-16, 305-6; A. Emch-Dériaz, 'The non-naturals made easy', in R. Porter (ed.), The Popularization of Medicine 1650-1850, London, 1992, 134-59, especially 135-6; and W. Coleman, 'Health and hygiene in the Encyclopédie: a medical doctrine for the bourgeoisie', Journal of the History of Medicine (1974), 29, 399-421, 399, 401. The usual list of early modern non-naturals included: ambient air, diet (in the strict sense of meat and drink), sleeping and waking, exercise and rest, retentions and evacuations (including sexual release) and the passions of the mind. For debates over the Galenic sources of the doctrine and phrase, see L. J. Rather, 'The "six things non-natural": a note on the origins and fate of a doctrine and a phrase', Clio Medica (1968), 3, 337-47; S. Jarcho, 'Galen's six non-naturals: a bibliographic note and translation', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1970), 44, 372-7; P. Niebyl, 'The non-naturals', ibid. (1971), 45, 486-92; J. J. Bylebyl, 'Galen on the non-natural causes of variation in the pulse', ibid. (1971), 45, 482-5. deal extensively with early modern polite dietetics in S. Shapin, 'How to eat like a gentleman: dietetics and ethics in early modern England', in C. E. Rosenberg (ed.), Health and the Home, Baltimore, in press.
146. It should go almost without saying that choice in such matters was available only to those classes who had the resources to choose. Medical advice on dietetics and regimen was therefore geared to the élite. On this point, see L. Edelstein, 'The dietetics of antiquity', in idem, Ancient Medicine: Selected Papers of Ludwig Edelstein (ed. O. Temkin and C. L. Temkin), Baltimore, 1967 (essay originally published 1931), 303-16, 305-6; A. Emch-Dériaz, 'The non-naturals made easy', in R. Porter (ed.), The Popularization of Medicine 1650-1850, London, 1992, 134-59, especially 135-6; and W. Coleman, 'Health and hygiene in the Encyclopédie: a medical doctrine for the bourgeoisie', Journal of the History of Medicine (1974), 29, 399-421, 399, 401. The usual list of early modern non-naturals included: ambient air, diet (in the strict sense of meat and drink), sleeping and waking, exercise and rest, retentions and evacuations (including sexual release) and the passions of the mind. For debates over the Galenic sources of the doctrine and phrase, see L. J. Rather, 'The "six things non-natural": a note on the origins and fate of a doctrine and a phrase', Clio Medica (1968), 3, 337-47; S. Jarcho, 'Galen's six non-naturals: a bibliographic note and translation', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1970), 44, 372-7; P. Niebyl, 'The non-naturals', ibid. (1971), 45, 486-92; J. J. Bylebyl, 'Galen on the non-natural causes of variation in the pulse', ibid. (1971), 45, 482-5. deal extensively with early modern polite dietetics in S. Shapin, 'How to eat like a gentleman: dietetics and ethics in early modern England', in C. E. Rosenberg (ed.), Health and the Home, Baltimore, in press.
147. It should go almost without saying that choice in such matters was available only to those classes who had the resources to choose. Medical advice on dietetics and regimen was therefore geared to the élite. On this point, see L. Edelstein, 'The dietetics of antiquity', in idem, Ancient Medicine: Selected Papers of Ludwig Edelstein (ed. O. Temkin and C. L. Temkin), Baltimore, 1967 (essay originally published 1931), 303-16, 305-6; A. Emch-Dériaz, 'The non-naturals made easy', in R. Porter (ed.), The Popularization of Medicine 1650-1850, London, 1992, 134-59, especially 135-6; and W. Coleman, 'Health and hygiene in the Encyclopédie: a medical doctrine for the bourgeoisie', Journal of the History of Medicine (1974), 29, 399-421, 399, 401. The usual list of early modern non-naturals included: ambient air, diet (in the strict sense of meat and drink), sleeping and waking, exercise and rest, retentions and evacuations (including sexual release) and the passions of the mind. For debates over the Galenic sources of the doctrine and phrase, see L. J. Rather, 'The "six things non-natural": a note on the origins and fate of a doctrine and a phrase', Clio Medica (1968), 3, 337-47; S. Jarcho, 'Galen's six non-naturals: a bibliographic note and translation', Bulletin of the History of Medicine (1970), 44, 372-7; P. Niebyl, 'The non-naturals', ibid. (1971), 45, 486-92; J. J. Bylebyl, 'Galen on the non-natural causes of variation in the pulse', ibid. (1971), 45, 482-5. deal extensively with early modern polite dietetics in S. Shapin, 'How to eat like a gentleman: dietetics and ethics in early modern England', in C. E. Rosenberg (ed.), Health and the Home, Baltimore, in press.
148. Descartes, Conversations, op. cit. (24), 51.
149. Baillet, op. cit. (19), 259. This was just the kind of thing that was commonly said of the dietetics of the early modern gentleman-philosopher. Indeed, it closely parallels Gilbert Burnet's funeral sermon preached over Robert Boyle's body in the year after Baillet wrote this account. It was a way of saying that the scholarly life had not 'spoiled' the virtues and manners of the civic gentleman, and, of course, this kind of dietetics was a way for the gentleman-philosopher to present himself as unspoiled by scholarly moroseness, melancholy or asceticism: Shapin, op. cit. (38), 37-8, and idem, op. cit. (58).
150. Baillet, op. cit. (19), 259. This was just the kind of thing that was commonly said of the dietetics of the early modern gentleman-philosopher. Indeed, it closely parallels Gilbert Burnet's funeral sermon preached over Robert Boyle's body in the year after Baillet wrote this account. It was a way of saying that the scholarly life had not 'spoiled' the virtues and manners of the civic gentleman, and, of course, this kind of dietetics was a way for the gentleman-philosopher to present himself as unspoiled by scholarly moroseness, melancholy or asceticism: Shapin, op. cit. (38), 37-8, and idem, op. cit. (58).
151. Baillet, op. cit. (19), 259. This was just the kind of thing that was commonly said of the dietetics of the early modern gentleman-philosopher. Indeed, it closely parallels Gilbert Burnet's funeral sermon preached over Robert Boyle's body in the year after Baillet wrote this account. It was a way of saying that the scholarly life had not 'spoiled' the virtues and manners of the civic gentleman, and, of course, this kind of dietetics was a way for the gentleman-philosopher to present himself as unspoiled by scholarly moroseness, melancholy or asceticism: Shapin, op. cit. (38), 37-8, and idem, op. cit. (58).
152. Baillet, op. cit. (19), 259-60.
153. Descartes, Conversations, op. cit. (24), 50; for his liking of vegetables from his own garden, see Baillet, op. cit. (45), ii, 450.
154. Descartes, Conversations, op. cit. (24), 50; for his liking of vegetables from his own garden, see Baillet, op. cit. (45), ii, 450.
155. Baillet, op. cit. (19), 260.
156. Baillet, op. cit. (19), 260.
157. Letter from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, 8 July 1644, in PWD, iii, 237.
158. Letter from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, May or June 1645, in PWD, iii, 249-51.
159. Both ancient (Galenic) and early modern medical thought did in fact accept the possibility that habit might gradually change innate temperament; see, for example, Joubert, op. cit. (47), 43, and [Thomas Tryon], The Way of Health, Long Life and Happiness, or, a Discourse of Temperance..., London, 1683, 19. The author of the article on the non-naturals in the Encyclopédie agreed: see Emch-Dériaz, op. cit. (58), 138-9. So the proverbial 'habit is a second nature' can be understood to express the view that habit can give you another nature, not just the notion that habit is almost as strong as innate endowment. For early modern Stoicism and the management of the passions, see Dear, op. cit. (36), 68-72.
160. Both ancient (Galenic) and early modern medical thought did in fact accept the possibility that habit might gradually change innate temperament; see, for example, Joubert, op. cit. (47), 43, and [Thomas Tryon], The Way of Health, Long Life and Happiness, or, a Discourse of Temperance..., London, 1683, 19. The author of the article on the non-naturals in the Encyclopédie agreed: see Emch-Dériaz, op. cit. (58), 138-9. So the proverbial 'habit is a second nature' can be understood to express the view that habit can give you another nature, not just the notion that habit is almost as strong as innate endowment. For early modern Stoicism and the management of the passions, see Dear, op. cit. (36), 68-72.
161. Both ancient (Galenic) and early modern medical thought did in fact accept the possibility that habit might gradually change innate temperament; see, for example, Joubert, op. cit. (47), 43, and [Thomas Tryon], The Way of Health, Long Life and Happiness, or, a Discourse of Temperance..., London, 1683, 19. The author of the article on the non-naturals in the Encyclopédie agreed: see Emch-Dériaz, op. cit. (58), 138-9. So the proverbial 'habit is a second nature' can be understood to express the view that habit can give you another nature, not just the notion that habit is almost as strong as innate endowment. For early modern Stoicism and the management of the passions, see Dear, op. cit. (36), 68-72.
162. Both ancient (Galenic) and early modern medical thought did in fact accept the possibility that habit might gradually change innate temperament; see, for example, Joubert, op. cit. (47), 43, and [Thomas Tryon], The Way of Health, Long Life and Happiness, or, a Discourse of Temperance..., London, 1683, 19. The author of the article on the non-naturals in the Encyclopédie agreed: see Emch-Dériaz, op. cit. (58), 138-9. So the proverbial 'habit is a second nature' can be understood to express the view that habit can give you another nature, not just the notion that habit is almost as strong as innate endowment. For early modern Stoicism and the management of the passions, see Dear, op. cit. (36), 68-72.
163. Letter from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, 6 October 1645, in PWD, iii, 270; also Descartes, Passions, op. cit. (24), 338-9; and, for the most philosophically sensitive treatment of Descartes on the passions, S. James, Passion and Action: The Emotions in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, Oxford, 1997, 92-100. The summary below closely follows James. See also idem, 'Reason, the passions, and the good life', in D. Garbet and M. Ayers (eds.), The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, 2 vols., Cambridge, 1998, ii, 1358-96; idem, 'Explaining the passions; passions, desires, and the explanation of action', in S. Gaukroger (ed.), The Soft Underbelly of Reason: The Passions in the Seventeenth Century, London, 1998, 17-33.
164. Letter from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, 6 October 1645, in PWD, iii, 270; also Descartes, Passions, op. cit. (24), 338-9; and, for the most philosophically sensitive treatment of Descartes on the passions, S. James, Passion and Action: The Emotions in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, Oxford, 1997, 92-100. The summary below closely follows James. See also idem, 'Reason, the passions, and the good life', in D. Garbet and M. Ayers (eds.), The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, 2 vols., Cambridge, 1998, ii, 1358-96; idem, 'Explaining the passions; passions, desires, and the explanation of action', in S. Gaukroger (ed.), The Soft Underbelly of Reason: The Passions in the Seventeenth Century, London, 1998, 17-33.
165. Letter from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, 6 October 1645, in PWD, iii, 270; also Descartes, Passions, op. cit. (24), 338-9; and, for the most philosophically sensitive treatment of Descartes on the passions, S. James, Passion and Action: The Emotions in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, Oxford, 1997, 92-100. The summary below closely follows James. See also idem, 'Reason, the passions, and the good life', in D. Garbet and M. Ayers (eds.), The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, 2 vols., Cambridge, 1998, ii, 1358-96; idem, 'Explaining the passions; passions, desires, and the explanation of action', in S. Gaukroger (ed.), The Soft Underbelly of Reason: The Passions in the Seventeenth Century, London, 1998, 17-33.
166. Letter from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, 6 October 1645, in PWD, iii, 270; also Descartes, Passions, op. cit. (24), 338-9; and, for the most philosophically sensitive treatment of Descartes on the passions, S. James, Passion and Action: The Emotions in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, Oxford, 1997, 92-100. The summary below closely follows James. See also idem, 'Reason, the passions, and the good life', in D. Garbet and M. Ayers (eds.), The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, 2 vols., Cambridge, 1998, ii, 1358-96; idem, 'Explaining the passions; passions, desires, and the explanation of action', in S. Gaukroger (ed.), The Soft Underbelly of Reason: The Passions in the Seventeenth Century, London, 1998, 17-33.
167. Letter from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, 6 October 1645, in PWD, iii, 270; also Descartes, Passions, op. cit. (24), 338-9; and, for the most philosophically sensitive treatment of Descartes on the passions, S. James, Passion and Action: The Emotions in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, Oxford, 1997, 92-100. The summary below closely follows James. See also idem, 'Reason, the passions, and the good life', in D. Garbet and M. Ayers (eds.), The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, 2 vols., Cambridge, 1998, ii, 1358-96; idem, 'Explaining the passions; passions, desires, and the explanation of action', in S. Gaukroger (ed.), The Soft Underbelly of Reason: The Passions in the Seventeenth Century, London, 1998, 17-33.
168. Dear, op. cit. (36), 68-9.
169. Gaukroger (op. cit. (17), 388) interestingly suggests a shift occurring around the time of his correspondence with Princess Elizabeth 'from a somatopsychic account, in which the influence of bodily dispositions on the state of the soul is stressed, to a psychosomatic account in which are stressed the effects of the soul on bodily dispositions'.
170. James, Passion and Action, op. cit. (68), 106-8 (my emphasis); A. O. Rorty, 'Descartes on thinking with the body', in Cottingham (ed.), op. cit. (17), 371-92; and Cottingham, op. cit. (1), 87-96.
171. James, Passion and Action, op. cit. (68), 106-8 (my emphasis); A. O. Rorty, 'Descartes on thinking with the body', in Cottingham (ed.), op. cit. (17), 371-92; and Cottingham, op. cit. (1), 87-96.
172. James, Passion and Action, op. cit. (68), 106-8 (my emphasis); A. O. Rorty, 'Descartes on thinking with the body', in Cottingham (ed.), op. cit. (17), 371-92; and Cottingham, op. cit. (1), 87-96.
173. Descartes, Treatise, op. cit. (22), 5-10, 17-19.
174. Descartes, Treatise, op. cit. (22), 70 ('when the blood that goes into the heart is more pure and subtle and is kindled more easily than usual, this arranges the little nerve that is there in the manner that is required to cause the sensation of joy'), and 111 (for dry air); letter from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, May or June 1645, in PWD, iii, 250;
175. Descartes, Treatise, op. cit. (22), 70 ('when the blood that goes into the heart is more pure and subtle and is kindled more easily than usual, this arranges the little nerve that is there in the manner that is required to cause the sensation of joy'), and 111 (for dry air); letter from Descartes to Princess Elizabeth, May or June 1645, in PWD, iii, 250;
176. Descartes, Principles, op. cit. (25), 280-1.
177. Descartes, Treatise, op. cit. (22), 108-12.
178. Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, The Complete Essays of Montaigne, (trans. D. M. Frame), Stanford, CA, 1965 (originally published 1580-8), especially 'Of experience'. See, for example, the similarity between Montaigne's view of the appetites in sickness and views Descartes expressed in his conversation with Burman: 'Both in health and in sickness I have readily let myself follow my urgent appetites. I give great authority to my desires and inclinations' (ibid., 832).
179. See also M. Brunyate, 'Montaigne and medicine', in K. Cameron (ed.), Montaigne and His Age, Exeter, 1981, 27-38,
180. and, for general remarks on the conservatism of medical practice against the background of change in medical theory, see J. Henry, 'Doctors and healers: popular culture and the medical profession', in S. Pumfrey, P. L. Rossi and M. Slawinski (eds.), Science, Culture and Popular Belief in Renaissance Europe, Manchester, 1991, 191-221, especially 211-12: 'the mechanical philosophy made no significant impact on the practice of medicine'.
181. See e.g. H. E. Sigerist, Landmarks in the History of Hygiene, London, 1956, Chapter 2. The most influential English version in this period was Sir John Harington's The English Mans Doctor. Or the Schoole of Salerne, London, 1607.
182. See e.g. H. E. Sigerist, Landmarks in the History of Hygiene, London, 1956, Chapter 2. The most influential English version in this period was Sir John Harington's The English Mans Doctor. Or the Schoole of Salerne, London, 1607.
183. The quotation is from Sir John Harington, The School of Salernum: Regimen Sanitatis Salerni, Salerno, 1957, 22.
184. For the proverbial element in early modern medical culture, see also Henry, op. cit. (75), 198-201,
185. and Shapin op. cit. (58).
186. For the original, see Aulus fnotelius Celsus, De medicina, (trans. W. G. Spencer), 3 vols., Cambridge, Mass., 1960, i, 43 (Book I, i); also 57. Celsus probably lived in Tiberius' reign, the same emperor whose opinion that every man should be his own physician Descartes so much liked; cf. Plutarch: 'A diet which is very exact and precisely according to rule puts one's body both in fear and danger' (Plutarch, 'Rules for the preservation of health', in idem, Plutarch's Lives and Miscellanies (ed. A. H. Clough and W. W. Goodwin), 5 vols., New York, 1905, i, 251-79, 263). For many early modern endorsements of the Rule of Celsus, see Shapin, op. cit. (58).
187. For the original, see Aulus fnotelius Celsus, De medicina, (trans. W. G. Spencer), 3 vols., Cambridge, Mass., 1960, i, 43 (Book I, i); also 57. Celsus probably lived in Tiberius' reign, the same emperor whose opinion that every man should be his own physician Descartes so much liked; cf. Plutarch: 'A diet which is very exact and precisely according to rule puts one's body both in fear and danger' (Plutarch, 'Rules for the preservation of health', in idem, Plutarch's Lives and Miscellanies (ed. A. H. Clough and W. W. Goodwin), 5 vols., New York, 1905, i, 251-79, 263). For many early modern endorsements of the Rule of Celsus, see Shapin, op. cit. (58).
188. For the original, see Aulus fnotelius Celsus, De medicina, (trans. W. G. Spencer), 3 vols., Cambridge, Mass., 1960, i, 43 (Book I, i); also 57. Celsus probably lived in Tiberius' reign, the same emperor whose opinion that every man should be his own physician Descartes so much liked; cf. Plutarch: 'A diet which is very exact and precisely according to rule puts one's body both in fear and danger' (Plutarch, 'Rules for the preservation of health', in idem, Plutarch's Lives and Miscellanies (ed. A. H. Clough and W. W. Goodwin), 5 vols., New York, 1905, i, 251-79, 263). For many early modern endorsements of the Rule of Celsus, see Shapin, op. cit. (58).
189. P. Slack, ' Mirrors of health and treasures of poor men: the use of the vernacular medical literature of Tudor England', in C. Webster (ed.), Health, Medicine and Mortality in the Sixteenth Century, Cambridge, 1979, 237-73, 268.
190. A. Taylor, The Proverb, Berlin, 1985 (originally published 1931), 121-9; Dear, op. cit. (36); Bailler, op. cit. (19), 18-19, 59 (for Descartes's refusal to be 'a Slave' to passions, and how he overcame a youthful addiction to gambling).
191. A. Taylor, The Proverb, Berlin, 1985 (originally published 1931), 121-9; Dear, op. cit. (36); Bailler, op. cit. (19), 18-19, 59 (for Descartes's refusal to be 'a Slave' to passions, and how he overcame a youthful addiction to gambling).
192. A. Taylor, The Proverb, Berlin, 1985 (originally published 1931), 121-9; Dear, op. cit. (36); Bailler, op. cit. (19), 18-19, 59 (for Descartes's refusal to be 'a Slave' to passions, and how he overcame a youthful addiction to gambling).
193. Descartes, Discourse, op. cit. (15), 151.
194. Descartes, Principles, op. cit. (25), 189.
195. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, 20 February 1639, in PWD, iii, 135.
196. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, 9 January 1639, in PWD, iii, 131. In these connections, providence and the 'grace of God' were repeatedly invoked, and Descartes fell in with traditional Renaissance and early modern medical sensibilities about the complicated relationships between, on the one hand, using one's best efforts to maintain health and extend life and, on the other, acknowledging the limits to these efforts set by God's will and plan: see on this point Joubert, op. cit. (47), 41-3.
197. Letter from Descartes to Mersenne, 9 January 1639, in PWD, iii, 131. In these connections, providence and the 'grace of God' were repeatedly invoked, and Descartes fell in with traditional Renaissance and early modern medical sensibilities about the complicated relationships between, on the one hand, using one's best efforts to maintain health and extend life and, on the other, acknowledging the limits to these efforts set by God's will and plan: see on this point Joubert, op. cit. (47), 41-3.
198. Letter from Descartes to Chanut, 15 June 1646, in PWD, iii, 289;
199. cf. Baillet, op. cit. (19), 53.
200. Cf. Gaukroger's contention (op. cit. (17), 388) that the sentiments expressed to Chanut represent an intellectual 'shift' brought about by the reflections on which Descartes was engaged c. 1645-6 about 'the nature of the substantial union of mind and body'.
201. The Preface to The Passions of the Soul (1649) was, however, a quite typical Cartesian expression of medical optimism.
202. This is Descartes's own example: letter from Descartes to Hyperaspistes, August 1641, in PWD, iii, 189-90.
203. Roger French (op. cit. (27), 78-9) puts the point at issue well: As a scientia, medicine is 'assent to the conclusion of a demonstrative syllogism' [here French is quoting Vopiscus-Fortunatus Plemp, Dutch medical professor and friend of Descartes], but its individuality and autonomy lie in the fact that it is also an art. In the art of medicine, the writ of the philosophers does not run. In the art of medicine, there are no rules for certain knowledge: as Galen says there is no sure way of telling a nephritic from a colic pain, nor how a medicine acts by its 'whole substance'. As Celsus says, in the art of medicine there are no sure precepts, as in other natural sciences and there are many possible conclusions (and, by implication, the accumulated experiential knowledge of the centuries is important).
204. Descartes, Discourse, op. cit. (15), 122.
205. O. Temkin, Galenism: Rise and Decline of a Medical Philosophy, Ithaca, 1973, 39-40.
206. Slack, op. cit. (78), 271-2; also A. Macfarlane, The Family Life of Ralph Josselin, a Seventeenth-Century Clergyman: An Essay in Historical Anthropology, Cambridge, 1970, especially 173-6; K. Thomas, 'Health and morality in early modern England', in A. M. Brandt and P. Rozin (eds.), Morality and Health, New York, 1997, 15-34, esp. 20-4; Shapin op. cit. (58).
207. Slack, op. cit. (78), 271-2; also A. Macfarlane, The Family Life of Ralph Josselin, a Seventeenth-Century Clergyman: An Essay in Historical Anthropology, Cambridge, 1970, especially 173-6; K. Thomas, 'Health and morality in early modern England', in A. M. Brandt and P. Rozin (eds.), Morality and Health, New York, 1997, 15-34, esp. 20-4; Shapin op. cit. (58).
208. Slack, op. cit. (78), 271-2; also A. Macfarlane, The Family Life of Ralph Josselin, a Seventeenth-Century Clergyman: An Essay in Historical Anthropology, Cambridge, 1970, especially 173-6; K. Thomas, 'Health and morality in early modern England', in A. M. Brandt and P. Rozin (eds.), Morality and Health, New York, 1997, 15-34, esp. 20-4; Shapin op. cit. (58).
209. Slack, op. cit. (78), 271-2; also A. Macfarlane, The Family Life of Ralph Josselin, a Seventeenth-Century Clergyman: An Essay in Historical Anthropology, Cambridge, 1970, especially 173-6; K. Thomas, 'Health and morality in early modern England', in A. M. Brandt and P. Rozin (eds.), Morality and Health, New York, 1997, 15-34, esp. 20-4; Shapin op. cit. (58).
210. For a brilliant survey of this general tendency in seventeenth-century mechanical philosophy, see A. Gabbey, 'The mechanical philosophy and its problems: mechanical explanations, impenetrability, and perpetual motion', in J. C. Pitt (ed.), Change and Progress in Modern Science, Dordrecht, 1985, 9-84, especially 10-12.
211. T. S. Hall shows that these kinds of apparently revolutionary but practically insubstantial transformations are also at the heart of Descartes's physiology. Descartes claimed to reject Galen while recasting many Galenic concepts in the vocabulary of Cartesian physics: see Hall's notes to the text of Descartes's Treatise, op. cit. (22), e.g. nn. 13, 21, 35, 85;
212. see also Hatfield, op. cit. (29), 341-4;
213. and, for overall continuities between Cartesian thought and tradition, E. Gilson, Etudes sur le rôle de la pensée médiévale dans la formation du système cartésien, 4th edn., Paris, 1975,
214. and D. Des Chene, Physiologia: Natural Philosophy in Late Aristotelian and Cartesian Thought, Ithaca, 1996.
215. For attempts at genuinely historical explanation of mechanical intelligibility, see Dear, op. cit. (36).