Medicine, God, and the Unseen in Eleventh/Seventeenth-Century Morocco

In the late seventeenth century, the head of the Salihiyya Sufi lodge in the far south of Morocco, Abu al-ʿAbbas Sidi Ahmad al-Salihi al-Dar‘i (d. 1144/1731), wrote a poem of over a thousand lines on medicine, a long composition that went on to enjoy great popularity. The Worthy Gift of Medicine (al-Hadiya al-maqbula fi l-tibb) drew on a wide range of sources, including the Arab-Galenic tradition and Prophetic medicine, and in the fashion of the time, al-Salihi wrote a long commentary to fully explain it. Al-Salihi’s medical writings thus provide a productive entry point into the nature of medical writing and practice in early modern Morocco, as well as the historiographical narratives that have structured the ways in which they have been studied.

The Nature of Metaphor

Metaphors are ubiquitous features of spoken and written language that permit us to experience one thing in terms of another. “Seeing is believing” helps us understand the abstract concept of belief in terms of the concrete sense of sight. Derived from two Greek words that mean “to transfer,” metaphors transfer certain attributes from the source domain, in our example, Seeing to the target domain of Believing. The chapter explores how metaphors have cognitive properties and allow us to learn new things and to express abstract ideas and complex relations. Metaphors are a powerful trope of figurative language and commonly appear in both formal medical writings and the informal daily interactions of doctors, patients, and the public more generally. The chapter describes how metaphors connect abstract and concrete domains and offers an array of examples that helps us decipher how metaphors originate from human experiences and how they evolve. It explores how metaphors frame perceptions and shape reality and their potency in the language of the clinic.

Visual Theory

This chapter provides an overview and assessment of Dante’s use of medieval visual theories in his writings. It first surveys his use of the medieval Aristotelian tradition of visual theory in the Convivio, and discusses his reliance on other models of vision in the Vita nova and Rime, including those found both in medical writings and in the works of other poets. The chapter then discusses how, in the Commedia, Dante incorporates a variety of other late medieval discourses about vision into his narrative. Dante does this—it is argued—in carefully structured and stratified ways that often reveal his characteristic syncretism. The poet continues to use neo-Aristotelian theory but also draws upon a rich body of material on seeing found in medieval theology, contemplation, and Biblical exegesis. Particular attention is paid to how these multiple traditions inform the presentation of Dante-character’s own visual experiences throughout the poem.

Soul

Razi’s posits a foolish cosmic soul that is responsible for triggering the creation of the world after it “turns toward” matter. This chapter shows that his reasons for this turn especially on the need to explain evil and suffering in the world. It also explores the relation between this cosmic soul and the individual souls of humans, drawing on not only what is known of Razi’s philosophical works, but also on his medical writings. Another question discussed at length is the relation between human and animal souls. Here it is argued that Razi may not, as usually assumed, have believed in the possibility of human-animal transmigration. Furthermore, it is shown that his views on animal rationality are more traditional than has been supposed, since he excludes rationality and intellect from the mental lives of animals. However, he does admit that animals are capable of a kind of non-rational “thought” or intelligence.

Worm Food: Towards a Typology of Worm and Lice Disease-Descriptions in Graeco-Roman Narratives

Two disease-descriptions featured in ancient literature (skolekosis and phthiriasis) have long been interpreted as evidence of medical illness, but this paper argues that they should be understood as strictly literary phenomena; they do not describe any diseases that occurred in the ancient Mediterranean world. The lack of correspondence between narrative literature and ancient medical writings controverts the dominant scholarly assumption that these diseases had some basis in history/medicine. Instead, this paper argues that four relatively distinct conceptions of skolekosis and phthiriasis were at play in ancient literature, despite their shared use of worms and lice. With a clearer understanding of this typology, we are better positioned to understand the normative function of narratives depicting skolekosis and phthiriasis.

О жанровом многообразии калмыцкой деловой письменности XVII-XIX вв.

Introduction. The Kalmyks are one of the few peoples in Russia to have developed a script system of their own centuries ago. Spiritual culture of the ethnos can be traced in numerous original and translated texts of philosophical treatises, medical writings, historical chronicles, grammar essays, diaries of Buddhist pilgrims, fiction, recorded folklore materials, etc. The Kalmyk vertical script was also used for official writing. From the 17th century onwards, in the Lower Volga Kalmyks would expand their knowledge of Russian record keeping procedures (in diplomatic, military and economic contacts), however, adhering to their own writing traditions. Archival materials available attest to that the then genres of Kalmyk official writing were diverse enough, which makes it essential to reveal and investigate some authentic genre samples, classify the latter, identifying certain structural, stylistic, and language features. Goals. So, the paper seeks to essentially and structurally describe the revealed genres. Materials. The work analyzes documents stored by the National Archive of Kalmykia. Conclusions. Current research results indicate in the 17th-19th centuries the Kalmyks did possess a comprehensive official writing system characterized by genre diversity, which makes the introduction of the terms ‘Kalmyk official writing’ and ‘genre of Kalmyk official writing’ reasonable and necessary. The study delineates a number of functional genres, such as cāǰiyin bičiq, zarčim (Cyrillic цааҗин бичг) ‘codes, regulations’, amur yabuxu bičiq (Cyr. амр йовх бичг) ‘letter of discharge’, ayiladxal bičiq (Cyr. әәлдхл бичг) ‘report, dispatch’, erelge (Cyr. эрлһ) ‘petition’, andaγār (Cyr. андһар) ‘vow’, tō (Cyr. то) ‘register’, and the vastest one — bičiq (Cyr. бичг) ‘epistolary message’. However, there are still titles of documents to explore, e.g., bičiq tamaγa (Cyr. бичг тамһ) ‘letter-seal’, elči bičiq (Cyr. элч бичг) ‘letter (to be delivered by) a special messenger’, zarliq (Cyr. зәрлг) ‘order; decree’, etc. In this context, further research of Kalmyk official writing documents can be a priority focus of Mongolian studies. Archival sources are only being discovered, and have not been studied due to large numbers. Thus, the genre structure presented is incomplete and shall definitely be revised or extended.

Empiricisms of Antiquity

Empirical philosophy begins in Greek medicine, which formulates the first imperative to use experience as an instrument of knowledge, and initiates European thinking about methods of empirical inquiry. Antiquity’s greatest thinker on empirical methods was Galen, its greatest doctor. Many leading empirical philosophers had medical training or studied medical writings and collaborated with physicians. This began when Democritus and Epicurus drew medical empiricism into natural philosophy, but their efforts were swamped by the prestigious rationalism of Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics. The chapter also considers the empiricism of the Babylonians, and the career of empiricism under Islam.