THE PERSISTENCE ADAPTATION OF AND IDEAS OF HUMOURAL THEORY: FROM GREEK MEDICINE TO THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD AND BEYOND

Abstract

This research analyses the persistence and adaptation of Humoural ideas, from Hippocratic medicine to the early modern period of 1500-1800, culminating in the comparison of it with modern medicine. From each time period, drawing on primary sources and using thematic analysis set within a historical framework, the research investigates how physicians engaged with new discoveries and adapted Humoural concepts into their practice. The English translations of key texts of Greek medicine, like the Corpus Hippocraticum and De Materia Medica, are interpreted for the constitution of Humoural theory. English translations of early modern sources, such as De Fabrica Corporis Humani and Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in animilibus, are analyzed in respect to their suggestions regarding the manner by which anatomical and physiological discoveries challenged and possibly reshaped the concepts of the humours. Secondary literature with valuable insights on the practical use, adaptations, and eventual decline of the theory will also be considered. According to the findings of the research, despite the appearance of new medical knowledge, Humoural ideas persisted, and the physicians of early modernity adapted the theory for new discoveries by the reinterpretation of functions and coexisting with emerging diagnostic methods. The flaws in Humoural theory, however, became more obvious as the concept of disease etiology changed. Although the residue of its influence may persist in contemporary medical terminology, Humoural theory ultimately yielded to more scientifically based theories of health and disease. Thus, the persistence of Humoural theory emphasizes that even with new knowledge, firmly held traditional medical theories are difficult to dismiss. The integration of the two provided a nuanced perspective of disease and cure ultimately. It also proves the vitality of the role of physicians, inventions of medical field and leading medical movements in reshaping the existing medical practices.