Historiographical production on evolutionism in Spain has given rise to a set of very appreciable original works both in number and quality. Indeed, the diffusion of evolutionist theories offers very attractive materials...Historiographical production on evolutionism in Spain has given rise to a set of very appreciable original works both in number and quality. Indeed, the diffusion of evolutionist theories offers very attractive materials of study, as much from the point of view of the history of the ideas and the scientific theories, as from the approach around the studies of the broad social interaction that science establishes with its environment. The deep ideological and religious implications that the evolutionist question involves find in the Spanish case an especially interesting example. This paper tries to offer an overview about some proposals presented in the last forty years, so that it can give a cause for reflection for new research lines in the future.
Berengario da Carpi, in "Anatomiam Mundini Commentarius" (1521) writes "morbus eius cuius est" as equivalent of "Morbus Gallicus." We aim to understand this expression in its morphology as well as in the way the medical...Berengario da Carpi, in "Anatomiam Mundini Commentarius" (1521) writes "morbus eius cuius est" as equivalent of "Morbus Gallicus." We aim to understand this expression in its morphology as well as in the way the medical profession considered this illness at his time.
The model of pavilion lazaretto was built above the scientific basis established during the hospital reform process held in France on the lasts decades of the eighteenth century. The morphological solutions adopted for t...The model of pavilion lazaretto was built above the scientific basis established during the hospital reform process held in France on the lasts decades of the eighteenth century. The morphological solutions adopted for the new quarantine taxonomy has not been given by the example borrowed by the new typology of hospital as resulted in this discussion, but by existing quarantine and detention facilities in general. In this paper we will analyse all factors that have influenced in the configuration of this model of lazarettos.
This article explores the history of the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Cartagena de Indias, at the end of the 18th century. Its activities and evolution cannot be understood unless they are analyzed within the context of...This article explores the history of the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Cartagena de Indias, at the end of the 18th century. Its activities and evolution cannot be understood unless they are analyzed within the context of the Bourbon sanitary reforms. it was precisely at that time when these reforms were being implemented in Nueva Granada. One of the goals of the reforms was to improve the health of the population in order to discipline the vassals, to promote the growth of the workforce and to increase the Crown's wealth. The text reviews different aspects of the institution, and how it operated. It examines the budget, its expenses, and the dynamics of the hospital population and of its employees. In doing so, it intends to explain what the hospital offered to the city's various social groups.
This study investigates the staffing by physicians of the "Hospital Real" in the city of Granada in the 16th century, focusing on the selection processes that preceded their respective and successive appointments. The ai...This study investigates the staffing by physicians of the "Hospital Real" in the city of Granada in the 16th century, focusing on the selection processes that preceded their respective and successive appointments. The aim is to illustrate the determination shown by this class of professionals to claim this healthcare space and the academic and socio-cultural requirements that they had to meet in return. These included the possession of a university degree and the accreditation of reputable surgical experience and, to a lesser degree, "limpieza de sangre" (proof of Spanish Christian ancestry) and the title of physician awarded by the local court of the Inquisition.
Immediately after becoming interested in animal magnetism, and undoubtedly as a result of this interest, E.T.A. Hoffmann used automata as the central characters in some of his most notable works. This paper aims to show...Immediately after becoming interested in animal magnetism, and undoubtedly as a result of this interest, E.T.A. Hoffmann used automata as the central characters in some of his most notable works. This paper aims to show how this interest reveals the author's critical attitude towards a conception of the human being which, developing in parallel to anatomy-based medicine, had led in the eighteenth century to a doctrine whose most complete expression is to be found in "L'homme machine," by J.O. De La Mettrie. Nowadays we can see these tales, like those dedicated to animal magnetism, as a cry of alarm against one of the consequences of such a mechanical conception of a human being: the growth of "biopower," or of "biopolitics," terms coined by Foucault in his last works; but also against the risks entailed by the Promethean drive of modernity.
This paper deals with prenatal diagnosis practices in Spain. For pursuing this aim it reviews both literature on the origins of these practices in foreign countries as well as some of the early publications by Spanish pr...This paper deals with prenatal diagnosis practices in Spain. For pursuing this aim it reviews both literature on the origins of these practices in foreign countries as well as some of the early publications by Spanish practitioners. Those publications appeared to be connected to previous genetic testing in children such as the case of Down syndrome. Socio-political norms and values of Franco's regime together with clinicians' interests on introducing new testing techniques resulted in the stabilization of these practices associated to a reconceptualisation of pregnancy. Although prenatal diagnosis techniques made the body of pregnant women invisible, women's bodies remained at the core of the technicalisation of contemporary reproductive options.
During the first third of the twentieth century, and especially after the 1920s, a discourse on occupational hygiene and safety began to develop in Spain. This discourse, without rejecting the value of the work carried o...During the first third of the twentieth century, and especially after the 1920s, a discourse on occupational hygiene and safety began to develop in Spain. This discourse, without rejecting the value of the work carried out in the factory environment, particularly stressed the need to take into account what was called the "human factor." Promoted mainly by the budding occupational doctors and psychologists, this discourse became part of both the lines of biological thinking of constitutional pathology as well as the economic ideas of the so-called OCT, and it expounded the need to take the somatic and psychic characteristics of people into account in order to carry out "rational" distribution of the same in the workplace. The article aims to highlight the way in which this discourse contained elements that would help to attribute specific roles within the workplace based on the biological and psychological characteristics of men and women, so facilitating the legitimisation of a sexual distribution of work which helped to reinforce the social organization of gender at that time.
Chlorosis and Neurasthenia are two classical examples of pathological dissociations and the difficulties involved in approaching their diagnosis using scientific-naturalistic criteria. In the realm of those difficulties,...Chlorosis and Neurasthenia are two classical examples of pathological dissociations and the difficulties involved in approaching their diagnosis using scientific-naturalistic criteria. In the realm of those difficulties, the study examines the androcentric viewpoint and the ideological perspective of Contemporary Spanish Medicine when addressing the feminine nature and women's pathologies. Moreover, based on the similarities with present-day pain and fatigue syndromes, the study underlines the need to review the clinical approach to these illnesses by attempting to overcome the existing biomedical limitations.
The concept of gender establishes not only a distinction between biological sex (natural data and the object of biological and medical knowledge) and social sex (constructed within and by power relations). As a category...The concept of gender establishes not only a distinction between biological sex (natural data and the object of biological and medical knowledge) and social sex (constructed within and by power relations). As a category of analysis, it also allows us to research the area of tension which governs the mutual construction of both. This construction inevitably pervades language and its capacity to establish categories of thought in cultures. This paper will demonstrate how the conceptual and linguistic category of "woman" is one of the areas where this mutual construction may be found in the 19th century.