Signs and Senses: Diagnosis and Prognosis in Early Medieval Pulse and Urine Texts

The character of early medieval medical manuscripts makes it difficult to generalize about the nature of medical knowledge in this period. In order to reconstitute one field of medical science, namely diagnosis and prognosis, while avoiding the pitfalls of unjustified generalization, this essay limi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social history of medicine : the journal of the Society for the Social History of Medicine 2000-08, Vol.13 (2), p.265-278
Main Author: Wallis, F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alexander (of Tralles?)
Diagnosis
Hermogenes
History of medicine
History, Medieval
Italy
Manuscripts, Medical as Topic - history
Monte Cassino MS. 69
Monte Cassino MS. 97
Prognosis
Programmed Instruction as Topic - history
prophecy
pulse
Pulse - history
religion
Religion and Medicine
Urology - history
uroscopy
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Summary:The character of early medieval medical manuscripts makes it difficult to generalize about the nature of medical knowledge in this period. In order to reconstitute one field of medical science, namely diagnosis and prognosis, while avoiding the pitfalls of unjustified generalization, this essay limits itself to reconstructing the understanding of pulse and urine inspection available in a particular place and time: the Italian monastery of Monte Cassino at the end of the first millennium. The available texts reveal little about the rationale behind these bedside techniques; indeed, pulse and urine seem to be signs without any semiotics, any underlying theory. The clue to this paradox is the fact that these texts see pulse and urine as primarily prognostic rather than diagnostic. Prognosis was understood to be analogous to forms of intuition, judgement, revelation, and prophecy that operated outside the logic of causality. Hence a fully rationalized semiotics was not regarded as necessary for effective medical practice.
ISSN:0951-631X
1477-4666
DOI:10.1093/shm/13.2.265