Article ID: CBB001552767

Cullen, a Cautionary Tale (2015)

unapi

Some ideas return after the briefest of exiles: reductionism is back in vogue. Existential questions -- about who we are, about our origins and future, about what is valuable -- no longer require difficult soul searching, especially when straightforward answers are expected from the neurosciences. History is being rewritten with the brain as its centrepiece; the search for great men and big ideas of the past begins again. William Cullen (1710--90), whose work on neurosis was once part of the history of psychoanalysis, is now well placed to become part of such a neuro-history. This article attempts to subvert this process, by rebuilding the original meaning of neurosis through Cullen's physiological and medical works, in comparison with his predecessor, Robert Whytt (1714--66), and illustrating this meaning using one particular neurosis: hypochondriasis. The result is a more complicated version of neurosis which, importantly, carries significant insights into the nature and practice of medicine. Moreover, this article examines how Cullen's standing fell in the 1820s as British physicians and surgeons turned to an idea which promised to reform medicine: pathological anatomy. When these hopes faded, Cullen became a figure obsessed with the nerves. This image has survived to the present, a blank canvas onto which any theory can be projected. It also values precisely what Cullen warned against: simplistic explanations of the body and disease, and unthinking confidence in the next big idea or silver bullet. Neurosis was not simply a nervous ailment, but it is a warning against reductionism in history making.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001552767/

Similar Citations

Chapter Rocca, Julius; (2007)
William Cullen (1710--1790) and Robert Whytt (1714--1766) on the Nervous System (/isis/citation/CBB001032145/)

Chapter Vickers, Neil; (2011)
Aspects of Character and Sociability in Scottish Enlightenment Medicine (/isis/citation/CBB001251015/)

Thesis Stelmackowich, Cindy Lee; (2010)
Bodies of Knowledge: Nineteenth Century Anatomical Atlases, 1800--1860 (/isis/citation/CBB001562744/)

Book Steinke, Hubert; Boschung, Urs; Pross, Wolfgang; (2008)
Albrecht von Haller: Leben-Werk-Epoche (/isis/citation/CBB001022101/)

Article Francesco Brigo; Mariano Martini; (2022)
“Chi l’ha detto?”. Un caso emblematico di errata attribuzione (/isis/citation/CBB615219276/)

Book Robert Woods; Chris Galley; (2014)
Mrs. Stone & Dr. Smellie: Eighteenth-Century Midwives and Their Patients (/isis/citation/CBB020111962/)

Article Hanson, Craig Ashley; (2010)
Representing the Rhinoceros: The Royal Society between Art and Science in the Eighteenth Century (/isis/citation/CBB001032693/)

Chapter Chaplin, Simon; (2012)
Dissection and Display in Eighteenth-Century London (/isis/citation/CBB001251806/)

Essay Review Coppola, Al; (2011)
Science/Spectacle (/isis/citation/CBB001566424/)

Article Neher, Allister; (2010)
The Truth about Our Bones: William Cheselden's Osteographia (/isis/citation/CBB001230199/)

Authors & Contributors
Wild, Wayne
Taylor, Georgette
Armocida, Emanuele
Bellis, Richard T.
Brigo, Francesco
Natale, Gianfranco
Concepts
Anatomy
Medicine
Physicians; doctors
Chemistry
Visual representation; visual communication
Pathology
Time Periods
18th century
19th century
Enlightenment
20th century, early
17th century
Places
Great Britain
France
Scotland
England
Italy
Germany
Institutions
Royal Society of London
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment