Humors and the Mind

Authors
Publication date 2020
Host editors
  • D. Jalobeanu
  • C.T. Wolfe
Book title Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences
ISBN (electronic)
  • 9783319207919
Edition Living
Number of pages 6
Publisher Cham: Springer
Organisations
  • Faculty of Humanities (FGw) - Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research (AIHR) - Amsterdam School of Historical Studies (ASH)
Abstract The fundamental assumption of the theory of humors, which has its roots in ancient medicine, is that the body is composed of a limited number of elementary fluids, considered crucial for the explanation of health and disease. Already in antiquity, the theory of humors acquired a psychological dimension, holistically connecting the humoral constitution of the body with mental dispositions. Psychological humoralism remained important in the early modern period but was increasingly undermined by new views on the body, the soul, and the relation between the two.
Document type Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary
Note Living reference work entry
Language English
Published at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20791-9_380-1
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