“The main threat to the human race is man himself, because he does not know how to take advantage of and enjoy the fruits of this great, easily attainable virtue.”
The greatest harm that man can inflict on himself comes from within, which is why Oliva Sabuco recommends self-knowledge. Only when we know ourselves will we be able to control our actions and emotions, act virtuously and live a long and healthy life.
Oliva Sabuco’s holistic medical philosophy offers what could be called an alternative in the history of medicine, drawing heavily on Renaissance medical interpretations and emphasising the importance of cosmology and humour in the healing process. Health and knowledge are inextricably linked, one supporting the other.
Dr Jil Muller will present Oliva Sabuco’s outstanding medical approach to philosophy in an online lecture at the University of York on 12 July
as part of the conference “Writing the World: Early Modern Women, Natural Philosophy and Medicine”.
A recent published article by Dr Jil Muller covering a similar topic:
- “Humours, Passions, and Consciousness in Descartes’s Physiology: The Reconsideration through the Correspondence with Elisabeth,” in Andrea Strazzoni and Marco Sgarbi (eds.), Reading Descartes, Consciousness, Body, and Reasoning, Firenze University Press, 2023, 59-80 DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-0169-8.05
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