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The Negotiation of Meaning in Late Antique Clinical Practice: Alexander of Tralles and “Natural Remedies”
Zecher, Jonathan
Zecher, Jonathan
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Abstract
Treatment is a matter of negotiation of viewpoints and attitudes. This chapter examines first the content of Alexander’s natural remedies—what is included, what is not, and what can be made of both. It explores the implications of his characterization of remedies as “amulets”, which he justifies by his experience of their success and by the authority of other physicians; and as “natural”, by which he draws supposedly non-medical healing into the sphere of “scientific medicine.” The chapter demonstrates, first, that Alexander likely lived earlier than is often assumed and that, contrary to expectation, Christianity seems not to have influenced his practice at all. It then argues that his characterization and defence of “non-medical” healing constitutes an attempt to translate between professional and lay explanatory models of illness, which is open to multiple interpretations by readers, and that Alexander’s humane and practical approach to medical care led him to a more capacious notion of medical science.
Keywords
Humanities, Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Allied Health
Date
2023
Type
Book chapter
Journal
Book
Disability, Medicine, and Healing Discourse in Early Christianity: New Conversations for Health Humanities
Volume
Issue
Page Range
84-101
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry
Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
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Open Access Status
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All rights reserved
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Controlled
Notes
© 2024 Jonathan Zecher.