PhilSci Archive

Rules, Reproducibility, and the Brief Frenzy of Animal Magnetism: Epistemological Foundations of Trust in French Enlightenment Medicine

Titleman, Mark (2023) Rules, Reproducibility, and the Brief Frenzy of Animal Magnetism: Epistemological Foundations of Trust in French Enlightenment Medicine. [Preprint]

This is the latest version of this item.

[img]
Preview
Text
Animal Magnetism and Epistemology Final.pdf

Download (310kB) | Preview

Abstract

Enlightenment science and medicine achieved different levels of accuracy and precision as both sought rationality, empiricism, and the spread of human happiness. Animal magnetism was a unique medical phenomenon of late Enlightenment Paris that established trust with the public and had a significant cultural impact. Yet this method was not reproducible, involved limited rule-following, and lacked a coherent theoretical framework. Lessons from this phenomenon have included the first use of the placebo and the first design and implementation of careful, controlled experimentation in the medical context. Another lesson can be the power of demonstration and spectacle in communicating medical innovations. In fact, the underpinnings of science – the reproducibility of a certain scientific experiment and the rules, know-hows, and theories it assures – can be so conveyed to the public.


Export/Citation: EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL
Social Networking:
Share |

Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Titleman, Markmarktitleman9@gmail.com0009-0004-6270-1387
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Medicine > Health and Disease
General Issues > Social Epistemology of Science
Depositing User: Mark Titleman
Date Deposited: 03 Jan 2024 20:57
Last Modified: 19 May 2024 12:51
Item ID: 22899
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Medicine > Health and Disease
General Issues > Social Epistemology of Science
Date: 1 May 2023
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/22899

Available Versions of this Item

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item