<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The clinical empiricism of Thomas Sydenham (1624–1689) and his definition of <italic>especie morbosae</italic> represented a substantial turn in the medicine of his time. This turn supposed the shift towards an ontological conception of diseases, from a qualitative to quantitative interpretation. Sydenham’s clinical proposal had a great influence on empiricism philosophical thinking, particularly in John Locke and his delimitation of knowledge. The dialogue between medicine and philosophy, set out by Sydenham-Locke, reactivates the problem of the clinical and theoretical foundations of medical thought, as well as the limits of scientific knowledge. Similar to problem exposed in the Hippocratic treatise <italic>On ancient medicine</italic>, seventeenth-century medicine seeks its epistemological foundations and the solution to its difficulties in clinical experience, probability and analogy. The aim of this work is to show the Sydenham’s contribution to one of the great controversies between medicine and philosophy.</p></abstract>

The clinical empiricism of Thomas Sydenham (1624–1689) and his definition of especie morbosae represented a substantial turn in the medicine of his time. This turn supposed the shift towards an ontological conception of diseases, from a qualitative to quantitative interpretation. Sydenham’s clinical proposal had a great influence on empiricism philosophical thinking, particularly in John Locke and his delimitation of knowledge. The dialogue between medicine and philosophy, set out by Sydenham-Locke, reactivates the problem of the clinical and theoretical foundations of medical thought, as well as the limits of scientific knowledge. Similar to problem exposed in the Hippocratic treatise On ancient medicine, seventeenth-century medicine seeks its epistemological foundations and the solution to its difficulties in clinical experience, probability and analogy. The aim of this work is to show the Sydenham’s contribution to one of the great controversies between medicine and philosophy.

The Ontological Concept of Disease and the Clinical Empiricism of Thomas Sydenham

Kairos. Journal of Philosophy & Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The clinical empiricism of Thomas Sydenham (1624–1689) and his definition of especie morbosae represented a substantial turn in the medicine of his time. This...

The Ontological Concept of Disease and the Clinical Empiricism of Thomas Sydenham

Published Online: Mar 03, 2020

Page range: 161 - 178

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/kjps-2019-0013

Keywords
Sydenham, Locke, Hippocrates, clinical empiricism, ontological concept of disease, analogy, probability

© 2019 Ruy J. Henríquez Garrido, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Ontological Concept of Disease and the Clinical Empiricism of Thomas Sydenham

Published Online: Mar 03, 2020

Page range: 161 - 178

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/kjps-2019-0013

KeywordsSydenham, Locke, Hippocrates, clinical empiricism, ontological concept of disease, analogy, probability

© 2019 Ruy J. Henríquez Garrido, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Sydenham, Locke, Hippocrates, clinical empiricism, ontological concept of disease, analogy, probability