Reflections on the fundamental nature of homeopathic potencies: Plasma, Langmuir Adsorption and Vitalism

There is a pressing need to develop methods and approaches that will identify the fundamental nature of homeopathic potencies. Aims: To bring together recent basic research on potencies, especially that using solvatochromic dyes, and to supplement these results with reliable observations made by Hahnemann and his contemporaries from the very beginnings of homeopathy, together with a detailed examination of the process of trituration and succussion coupled to dilution, in order to significantly limit the number of possible explanations as to the identity of potencies. Methodology: A mixture of lab based and literature studies such that as far as possible all verified and substantiated observations about homeopathic potencies have been examined. Results and Discussion: An understanding of the fundamental nature of homeopathic potencies that includes all known and accepted observations (in vitro, in vivoand clinical) is not realistic without embracing hypotheses involving the emergent properties of complex systems and in particular, vitalistic concepts. Using a vitalistic model it is possible to explain a wide range of seemingly unrelated phenomena -such as the polarising effect of potencies on solvatochromic dyes, the ability to use a range of materials such as water, lactose and cellulose as carriers of potencies, the administering of potencies by olfaction, the antidoting effect of camphor on potency action, the non-linear dependence of potency strength on volume as well as succussion level, the oscillatory behaviour of potencies and experimenter/observer/practitioner effects. Conclusion: A hypothesis in which homeopathic potencies can be seen as self-actuating and autonomous plasma generated by trituration and/or succussion and carried according to Langmuir adsorption models fits the known observations about potencies.

Contribuições da racionalidade sensível de Maffesoli aos fundamentos das práticas territoriais e comunitárias na interface saúde/assistência social / Contributions of Maffesoli's sensitive rationality to the foundations of territorial and community practices at the health care/social support interface

Resumo Michel Maffesoli é mundialmente conhecido como pensador da pós-modernidade, do tribalismo como uma nova forma de socialidade e da razão sensível, no contexto do que caracteriza como uma mudança epistêmica ou paradigmática emergente. Apesar de não refletir sobre o tema das práticas assistenciais, ao trazer uma leitura sociológica que destaca o doméstico, o localismo e o tribalismo, e fazer referências à saúde pela perspectiva da potência pessoal e social, neste ensaio argumenta-se que as ideias-força extraídas de seu pensamento podem oferecer contribuições aos fundamentos epistemológicos, ético-políticos e teórico-metodológicos das ações de profissionais que trabalham na interface saúde/assistência social e que atuam no espaço-tempo da vida cotidiana em um dado território. Pois, ao apresentar um logos que valida uma razão afetiva e que toma os locais de vida cotidiana como espaço-tempo de vinculações e desenvolvimento de potencialidades, um ethos ecosófico de respeito às pessoas, à natureza e à diversidade das formas e modos de vida, seu pensamento pode ainda oferecer um quadro dos lugares de habitar pessoal e do conviver coletivamente, que podem vir a ser cenários de práticas assistenciais interdisciplinares e interprofissionais (praxis) afinadas a uma racionalidade sensível, orientada pela e para a potencialização da vida.

Abstract Michel Maffesoli is known worldwide as a thinker of postmodernity, of tribalism as a new form of sociality and sensitive reason, within an emerging epistemic or paradigmatic change. Despite not reflecting on care practices, by bringing a sociological reading that highlights the domestic, localism and tribalism, and referencing health from the perspective of personal and social potency, this essay argues that the force-ideas extracted from his thought can contribute to the epistemological, ethical-political and theoretical-methodological foundations of the actions of professionals who work at the health care/social support interface and who act in the space-time of everyday life in a given territory. By presenting a logos that validates a sensitive reason and that takes the places of daily life as space-time of connections and development of potentialities, an ecosophical ethos of respect for people, nature and the diversity of forms and ways of life, his thought can also outline places of personal and collective dwelling, which can become scenarios of interdisciplinary and interprofessional care practices (praxis) in tune with a sensitive rationality, guided by and for the potentiation of life.

Freud, materialista mecanicista às últimas consequências / Freud, mechanistic-materialistic to the ultimate consequences / Freud, matérialiste mécaniste aux ultimes conséquences / Freud, materialista mecanicista hasta las últimas consecuencias

Este artigo traz uma reflexão sobre o estatuto epistemológico da psicanálise criada por Freud. Ela foi desenvolvida por meio de um confronto crítico ao enquadramento de sua metapsicologia no marco do que alguns autores chamaram vitalismo, que teria sido resultado de um desvio em relação à sua formação acadêmica ao retomar e atualizar o vitalismo do século XIX por meio da noção de Trieb. Em resposta, este artigo recoloca em discussão alguns temas como o ambiente de formação científica de Freud, o estatuto da noção de Trieb - que considera convencional e entrópica - e, por fim, recorrendo a Canguilhem, enquadra a metapsicologia de Freud no marco do materialismo mecanicista elevado às últimas consequências, o que teria sido de fato resultado de seu verdadeiro procedimento epistemológico além de sua mais ousada e refinada contribuição científica à época.

This paper proposes a reflection on the epistemological status of psychoanalysis created by Freud. It was developed through a critical confrontation of the insertion of his metapsychology within a framework some authors have called vitalism, which would have been the result of a deviation from his academic education when resuming and updating the 19th-century concept of vitalism with the notion of Trieb. In response, this article discusses some topics, such as Freud's scientific training environment, the status of the notion of Trieb - which is considered conventional and entropic - and finally, resorting to Canguilhem, inserts Freud's metapsychology in a framework of mechanistic materialism elevated to the ultimate consequences, which would have been the result of his true epistemological procedure, in addition to his most daring and refined scientific contribution at the time.

Cet article apporte une réflexion critique sur le statut épistémologique de la psychanalyse créée par Freud. La réflexion s'est développée à travers un refus de cadrer sa métapsychologie dans le cadre de ce que certains auteurs ont appelé le vitalisme, ce qui aurait été le résultat d'un écart par rapport à sa formation académique quand il a repris et actualisé le vitalisme du XIXe siècle à travers la notion de Trieb. En réponse, cet article met en discussion certains thèmes tels que l'environnement de formation scientifique de Freud, le statut de la notion de Trieb - qu'il considère conventionnel et entropique - et, enfin, en utilisant Canguilhem, adapte la métapsychologie de Freud dans le cadre du matérialisme mécaniste élevé aux dernières conséquences, qui auraient en fait été le résultat de sa véritable procédure épistémologique, sa contribution scientifique la plus audacieuse et raffinée à l'époque.

Este artículo reflexiona sobre el estado epistemológico del psicoanálisis creado por Freud. Fue desarrollado a través de una confrontación crítica con el fundamento de su metapsicología dentro del marco de lo que algunos autores llamaron vitalismo, que habría sido el resultado de una desviación de su formación académica al reanudar y actualizar el vitalismo del siglo 19 a través de la noción de Trieb. En respuesta, este artículo pone en discusión algunos temas, como el entorno de capacitación científica de Freud, el estado de la noción de Trieb - que es considerado convencional y entrópico - y, finalmente, recurriendo a Canguilhem, colocando a la metapsicología de Freud en el marco del materialismo mecanicista elevado a las últimas consecuencias, lo que habría sido el resultado de su verdadero proceder epistemológico, además de su contribución científica más atrevida y refinada de la época.

Interculturalidad en salud a partir de los diferentes sistemas médicos / Interculturality on health from different medical systems

Introducción: La interculturalidad en salud se ha desarrollado a partir del concepto étnico. Objetivo: comprender las culturas médicas para fomentar un diálogo intercultural. Método: El estudio se realizó por medio de una revisión de literatura en revistas indizadas, así como en la base de datos de algunas organizaciones e instituciones nacionales e internacionales. Resultados: Cada sistema médico tiene una filosofía sobre la que desarrolla sus métodos así la Medicina Convencional se basa en el positivismo, las Medicinas Complementarias en el Vitalismo como la Homeopatía y para las Medicinas Ancestrales su relación con la Naturaleza como por ejemplo la Cosmovisión Andina. Conclusiones: partiendo de conocer la filosofía que inspira a cada cultura médica, se deben generar espacios de diálogo para atender las necesidades de prevención, curación y promoción de la salud.

Freud, la pulsión y lo viviente. En búsqueda de un vitalismo negativo / Freud, the drive and the living. In search for a negative vitalism / Freud, a pulsão e o vivente. Em busca de um vitalismo negativo / Freud, la pulsion et le vivant. À la recherche d'un vitalisme négatif

En el marco del debate científico, filosófico y médico del siglo XIX animado por la pregunta "¿Qué es la vida?", se analiza la influencia del vitalismo sobre el pensamiento de Freud y sobre los fundamentos histórico-epistemológicos del psicoanálisis. A partir del examen del concepto de pulsión (Trieb) , se presentan las líneas de convergencia y divergencia que permiten concebir la metapsicología freudiana como una suerte de vitalismo negativo que ubica a la muerte en el centro de la vida.

The influence of vitalism on Freud's thinking and on the historical-epistemological foundations of psychoanalysis is analyzed taking into account the framework of the scientific, philosophical and medical debate of the 19th century that was based on the question "What is life?". We examine the concept of drive (Trieb) and present the lines of convergence and divergence that allow us to conceive Freudian metapsychology as a kind of negative vitalism that places death at the center of life.

No marco do debate científico, filosófico e médico do século XIX, animado pela questão "O que é a vida?", analisa-se a influência do vitalismo no pensamento de Freud e nos fundamentos histórico-epistemológicos da psicanálise. A partir do exame do conceito de pulsão (Trieb), são apresentadas as linhas de convergência e divergência que permitem conceber a metapsicologia freudiana como uma espécie de vitalismo negativo que coloca a morte no centro da vida.

Dans le cadre du débat scientifique, philosophique et médical du XIXème siècle animé par la question « Qu'est-ce que la vie ? ¼, on analyse l'influence du vitalisme sur la pensée de Freud et sur les fondements historico-épistémologiques de la psychanalyse. À partir de l'examen du concept de pulsion (Trieb), on présent les lignes de convergence et de divergence qui permettent de concevoir la métapsychologie freudienne comme une sorte de vitalisme négatif qui place la mort au cœur de la vie.

Im Rahmen der wissenschaftlichen, philosophischen und medizinischen Debatte des 19. Jahrhunderts, welche unter anderem auf die Frage „Was ist Leben?" basierte, analysiert dieser Artikel den Einfluss des Vitalismus auf Freuds Denken und auf die historisch-erkenntnistheoretischen Grundlagen der Psychoanalyse. Wir analysieren den Triebbegriff und stellen Konvergenzen und Divergenzen dar, die es erlauben, die Freud'sche Metapsychologie als eine Art negativen Vitalismus zu begreifen, der den Tod in den Mittelpunkt des Lebens stellt.

O vitalismo hipocrático de Canguilhem / Canguilhem's Hippocratic vitalism

Resumo O vitalismo canguilhemiano não é evidente, tampouco é uma forma mais conhecida desse tipo de pensamento; não nasce das antigas diatribes que, do século XVIII, invadiram as polêmicas do XIX. Canguilhem reabilita o vitalismo a partir de uma abordagem ontológica única, para a qual ele não hesita em referenciar-se nos antigos e, de modo geral, num Hipócrates que, lido sobretudo por meio da história escrita por Charles Singer, traz à tona outros temas, como a crítica ao conceito de homeostase revivido e nomeado por Walter Cannon. Canguilhem redimensiona a homeostase hipocrática que Cannon cientificizou, dando-lhe uma mobilidade que lhe é conceitualmente essencial, e redesenha o projeto do vitalismo, recusando-lhe a antítese do mecanicismo. Dessa forma, Canguilhem foi buscar ou se respaldar num Hipócrates lido pelos historiadores da medicina (e das ciências biomédicas). Este artigo procurou mapear a contribuição de longa duração de Georges Canguilhem para o discurso médico, bem como seu papel fundador de uma nova concepção de normalidade a partir da sua concepção de vitalismo, que, para ele, é herdeira de um "espírito hipocrático".

Abstract Canguilhem's vitalism is not obvious, neither does is consist of a more known form of this type of thinking; it does not come from the old diatribes that, coming from the 19th century, are still relevant to the 20th century's discussions. Canguilhem reclaims vitalism from a unique ontological approach, and does not hesitate to allude to the classics and, most of all, to a Hippocrates that, read mainly through the perspective of the history written by Charles Singer, brings to light other themes such as the critic to the concept of homeostasis revitalized and named by Walter Cannon. Canguilhem gives another perspective to Hippocrates' homeostasis, that was "scientified" by Cannon, giving it mobility that is considered essential to its concept and redraws the vitalism project, rejecting the place of mechanism antithesis. This paper aimed to map Canguilhem's longue durée contribution to the medical discourse, as well as his funding role of a new conception of normality formulated from his own interpretation of a vitalism that, in his point of view, comes from a "Hippocratic spirit".

A psique ao encontro da matéria: corpo e pessoa no projeto médico-científico de Nise da Silveira / Psyche meets matter: body and personhood in the medical-scientific project of Nise da Silveira

Resumo No início do século XX, a psiquiatria brasileira foi caracterizada por controversos métodos de tratamento, como a eletroconvulsoterapia, as psicocirurgias e o coma insulínico. Em 1946, a médica alagoana Nise da Silveira ocupou a linha de frente na crítica a esse modelo terapêutico por meio da criação de um ateliê criativo no antigo Centro Psiquiátrico Nacional, na zona norte carioca. O artigo examina os fundamentos do projeto médicocientífico de Nise da Silveira a partir de fontes documentais e de pesquisa de campo no grupo de estudos do Museu de Imagens do Inconsciente, mantido por seus discípulos. Sustenta-se que seu pensamento constitui uma recusa aos pressupostos do fisicalismo e do mecanicismo, aproximando-se das ontologias vitalistas e românticas.

Abstract In the early 1900s, Brazilian psychiatry was marked by the use of controversial treatments, like electroconvulsive therapy, psychosurgery, and insulin coma therapy. In 1946, the Brazilian physician Nise da Silveira took the front line in criticizing these treatments by setting up a creative activities studio in the National Psychiatric Center (Centro Psiquiátrico Nacional), in Rio de Janeiro. The article examines the theoretical basis for Silveira's medical-scientific project, drawing on documental sources and fieldwork with the study group at the Museum of Images from the Unconscious (Museu de Imagens do Inconsciente), maintained by her disciples. It is argued that her thinking constituted a rejection of the assumptions of physicalism and mechanism and was closer to the ontology of vitalism and romanticism.

Do psíquico ao somático: notas sobre a reconfiguração do self contemporâneo / From psychic to somatic: notes on the reframing of the contemporary self

Resumo O artigo examina a passagem de uma compreensão psicológica da pessoa para uma compreensão somática/cerebral. A discussão centra-se na dualidade que marca a cultura ocidental moderna, entre a visão iluminista e racionalista do mundo e a visão chamada de romântica. Busca demonstrar como o fisicalismo sustenta-se em uma reconfiguração da "tensão inarredável", referida por L.F. Duarte, entre essas duas visões. Parte de exemplos nos quais intervenções biotecnológicas se articulam a forte investimento afetivo e emocional de experiências corporais, propõe a noção de um "vitalismo" contemporâneo, no qual a categoria "vida" é entendida como algo que, embora ancorado na materialidade biológica, a ultrapassa, articulando-se a categorias fluidas como "felicidade" e "bem-estar" ou a sentimentos e emoções pouco passíveis de definição objetiva.

Abstract This exploration of the shift from a psychological understanding of the self to a somatic/cerebral one centers on the duality between the Enlightened, rationalist worldview and the so-called Romantic worldview, characteristic of modern Western culture. The discussion seeks to show how physicalism draws support from a reframing of what L.F. Duarte has called a "relentless tension" between these two worldviews. It finds basis in examples where biotechnological interventions are linked to heavy affective, emotional investment in bodily experiences and puts forward the notion of a contemporary "vitalism," where the category "life" is understood as something that, while anchored in biological materialism, moves beyond it, meshing with fluid categories like happiness and well-being or with feelings and emotions that resist objective definition.

A Study of Development of Medicine and Science in the Nineteenth Century Science Fiction: Biomedical Experiments in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein / 의사학

As the sciences advanced rapidly in the modern European world, outstanding achievements have been made in medicine, chemistry, biology, physiology, physics and others, which have been co-influencing each of the scientific disciplines. Accordingly, such medical and scientific phenomena began to be reflected in novels. In particular, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein includes the diverse aspects of the change and development in the medicine and science. Associated with medical and scientific information reflected in Frankenstein and Frankenstein's experiments in the text, accordingly, this research will investigate the aspects of medical and scientific development taking place in the nineteenth century in three ways. First, the medical and scientific development of the nineteenth century has been reviewed by summerizing both the information of alchemy in which Frankenstein shows his interest and the new science in general that M. Waldman introduces in the text. Second, the actual features of medical and scientific development have been examined through some examples of the experimental methods that M. Waldman implicitly uttered to Frankenstein. Third, it has been checked how the medical and scientific development is related to the main issues of mechanism and vitalism which can be explained as principles of life. Even though this research deals with the developmental process of medicine & science and origin & principles of life implied in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, its significance is that it is the interdisciplinary research focussing on how deeply medical and scientific discourse of Mary Shelley's period has been imbedded in the nineteenth century novel.

Xavier Bichat's Medical Thought in the Historical Context of French Vitalism / 의사학

The French vitalism is different from vitalism in general. It is a position of some physiologists who worked from the end of the 18th century to the early days of the 19th century, defending the peculiarity of life phenomena in contrast to the Cartesian theory of the animal-machine. Its main representatives are Paul-Joseph Barthez and Theophile de Bordeu, who belonged to the vitalist school of Montpellier. They argue, in contrast to mechanism, that life involves a special principle and cannot be explained in terms of physical and chemical properties alone. Marie Francois Xavier Bichat (1771-1802), inheriting this position, endeavored to establish physiology as a science which cannot be reduced to the physical sciences. He was also the first to introduce the notion of tissues as distinct entities. The aim of his concept of physiology is to explain the whole of life phenomena through the ultimate properties of tissues, that is, through sensibility and contractility. After Bichat, Francois Magendie inherited his experimental concepts, but critiqued his vitalism. Claude Bernard, known as the founder of experimental physiology, was influenced considerably by Bichat's idea of physiology. Through the notion of tissues, he unites zoology, botany and medicine in the domain of general physiology. Additionally, his concept of "milieu interieur" results from his study of Bichat's physiology, particularly from the concept of the "natural type".

Raízes do vitalismo francês: Bordeu e Barthez, entre Paris e Montpellier / The roots of French vitalism: Bordeu and Barthez, between Paris and Montpellier

Analisa as propostas classificadas como vitalistas, formuladas na França no século XVIII. Contextualiza a tradição da escola médica de Montpellier, abordando as concepções fisiológico-médicas de Théophile de Bordeu. Nesse ambiente Paul-Joseph Barthez realizou sua formação original. Sua concepção sobre a autonomia da vida também foi influenciada pela interação com círculos dos enciclopedistas de Paris. No entanto, na formulação desse conceito identificam-se igualmente ruptura e permanência com relação a ambas as linhas de pensamento - a respeito do conceito de ser humano na classificação das ciências prescrita pela Encyclopédie e na tradição típica de Montpellier.

This article analyzes several French eighteenth century physiological theories that later on were classified as vitalist. The overall background is set by the tradition of Montpellier medical school, in particular by the physiological and medical ideas of Théophile de Bordeu. Paul-Joseph Barthez was initially trained in this setting, however, his conception of the autonomy of life was also heavily influenced by the circle of Paris encyclopedists. For this reason, Barthez's elaboration shows elements of continuity and discontinuity regarding both the notion of human being as represented in the classification of sciences of the Encyclopédie, and the typical Montpellier.

The Vitalism of Paul-Joseph Barthez (1734~1806) / 의사학

In The Logic of Life (1970), Francois Jacob (1920~ ), Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine (1965), proclaimed the end of vitalism based on the concept of life. More than two decades before this capital sentence condemning vitalism was pronounced, Georges Canguilhem (1904~1995), a French philosopher of medicine, already acknowledged that eighteenth-century vitalism was scientifically retrograde and politically reactionary or counter-revolutionary insofar as it was rooted in the animism of Georg Ernst Stahl (1660~1734). The negative preconception of the term 'vitalism' came to be established as an orthodox view, since Claude Bernard (1813~1878) unfairly criticized contemporary vitalism in order to propagate his idea of experimental medicine. An eminent evolutionary biologist like Ernst Mayr (1904~2005) still defended similar views in This is Biology (1997), arguing that if vitalists were decisive and convincing in their rejection of the Cartesian model (negative heuristics), however they were equally indecisive and unconvincing in their own explanatory endeavors (positive heuristics). Historically speaking, vitalists came to the forefront for their outstanding criticism of Cartesian mechanism and physicochemical reductionism, while their innovative concepts and theories were underestimated and received much less attention. Is it true that vitalism was merely a pseudo-science, representing a kind of romanticism or mysticism in biomedical science? Did vitalists lack any positive heuristics in their biomedical research? Above all, what was actually the so.called 'vitalism'? This paper aims to reveal the positive heuristics of vitalism defined by Paul.Joseph Barthez (1734~1806) who was the founder of the vitalist school of Montpellier. To this end, his work and idea are introduced with regard to the vying doctrines in physiology and medicine. At the moment when he taught at the medical school of Montpellier, his colleagues advocated the mechanism of Rene Descartes (1596~1650), the iatromechanism of Herman Boerhaave (1668~1738), the iatrochemistry of Jan Baptist van Helmont (1579~1644), the animism of Stahl, and the organicism of Theophile de Bordeu (1722~1776). On the contrary, Barthez devoted himself to synthesize diverse doctrines and his vitalism consequently illustrated an eclectic character. Always taking a skeptical standpoint regarding the capacity of biomedical science, he defined his famous concept of 'vital principle (principe vital)' as the 'x (unknown variable)' of physiology. He argued that the hypothetical concept of vital principle referred to the 'experimental cause (cause experimentale)' verifiable by positive science. Thus, the vital principle was not presupposed as an a priori regulative principle. It was an a posteriori heuristic principle resulting from several experiments. The 'positivist hypothetism' of Barthez demonstrates not only pragmatism but also positivism in his scientific terminology. Furthermore, Barthez established a guideline for clinical practice according to his own methodological principles. It can be characterized as a 'humanist pragmatism' for the reason that all sort of treatments were permitted as far as they were beneficial to the patient. Theoretical incoherence or incommensurability among different treatments did not matter to Barthez. His practical strategy for clinical medicine consisted of three principles: namely, the natural, analytic, and empirical method. This formulation is indebted to the 'analytic method (methode analytique)' of the French empiricist philosopher Etienne Bonnot de Condillac (1714~1780). In conclusion, the eighteenth.century French vitalism conceived by Barthez pursued pragmatism in general, positivism in methodology, and humanism in clinics.

Além do mecanicismo e do vitalismo: a normatividade da vida em Georges Canguilhem / Beyond mechanism and vitalism: the normativity of life according to Georges Canguilhem

Discutimos a epistemologia das ciências da vida e das ciências da saúde de Georges Canguilhem, revendo sua crítica à concepção mecanicista da normalidade e da patologia e seu posicionamento frente ao vitalismo. Sugerimos que, enfatizando o conceito de "normatividade da vida", Canguilhem teria apontado para uma superação da oposição entre mecanicismo e vitalismo. Para tal, fazemos uma breve comparação da "normatividade da vida" com o conceito contemporâneo de auto-organização de Michel Debrun, argumentando que a emergência da norma vital se situa num estágio secundário de um processo de (auto-)organização da vida e, portanto, tal normatividade não teria a conotação vitalista, erroneamente atribuída a Canguilhem.

We discuss the epistemology of the sciences of life and health elaborated by Georges Canguilhem. First we review his criticism to mechanicist concepts of normality and pathology, and his position regarding vitalism. We suggest that, when emphasizing the concept of "normativity of life", Canguilhem goes beyond the dichotomy of mechanism and vitalism. We make a brief comparison of his concept of "normativity of life" with the contemporary concept of "self-organization" proposed by Michel Debrun, arguing that the emergency of the vital norm occurs on the second stage of the process of life self-organization and therefore such normativity does not have the vitalist connotation erroneously attributed to Canguilhem.

Development of the 'Respiration' Concept in the Western World / 의사학

Respiration has been well known as a basic phenomenon of life since the ancient times, but the explanation of which was varied. In most theories the respiration and the body heat of animal had been different phenomena until the early 19th century. After the Lavoisier's experiments in the late 18th century, combustion and respiration came to be considered as the same phenomenon. Through many discoveries and efforts of scientists in the field of chemistry, physics and biology, Justus Liebig, a German organic chemist, established the modern theory of the respiration of animal in the mid 19th century, where respiration was viewed as the origin of all energy of animal. The more detailed biochemical mechanisms were found in the 20th century.

Vitalism and Mechanism: Their Meanings in the Millieu of the 17th and 18th Centuries / 의사학

The views on the life in the early modern period(the 17th and 18th centuries) with their socio-cultural backgrounds and their meanings at that time were discussed in this paper. Those views discussed here were the dualistic, mechanistic one of Rene Descartes(1596-1650), the animistic, vitalistic one of Georg Ernst Stahl(1660-1734), and the monistic, mechanistic one of Julien Offray de La Mettrie(1709-1751). Author stressed that the processes of their view formation were influenced by the wide range of the various political and religious factors as well as the scientific, medical facts and opinions at that time, and that not only the contents of the views but also their historical contexts should be pursed in the study on the medical thoughts.