Bernard Mandeville: A Treatise of the Hypochondriack and Hysterick Diseases (1730)

ISBN-13: 9783319577791 Publisher: Springer International Publishing Publication date: 09/19/2017 Series: International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées , #223 Edition description: 1st ed. 2017 Pages: 238 Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d) This work reflects on hypochondria as well as on the global functioning of the human mind and on the place of the patient/physician relationship in the wider organisation of society. First published in 1711, revised and enlarged in 1730, and now edited and published with a critical apparatus for the first time, this is a major work in the history of medical literature as well as a complex literary creation. Composed of three dialogues between a physician and two of his patients, Mandeville’s Treatise mirrors the digressive structure of a talking cure. Thanks to the soothing and enlightening effects of this casual conversation, the physician Mandeville demonstrates the healing power of words for