Embodiments of Will

ISBN-13: 9783639082944 / Angielski / Miękka / 2008 / 660 str.

Michael Frampton

Opis

This book examines the two chief anatomical and physiological embodi­ment theories of voluntary animal motion, which I call the cardiosinew and cerebroneuromuscular theories of motion, from the time of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) to that of Mondino (d. A.D. 1326). The study of animal motion commenced with the ancient Greek natural scientist Aristotle who wrote the monograph On the motion of animals (De motu animalium). Subsequent inquiries into voluntary animal motion may be found in a variety of Greek, Latin, and Arabic compendia, commentaries, and encyclopedias throughout the ancient and medieval periods. The motion of animals was considered relevant to natural philosophers and theologians investigating the nature of the soul, and to physicians seeking to discover the causes of disorders of voluntary movement such as epilepsy and tetany. The book fills a gap in the scholarly literature concerned with pre-modern studies of the anatomical and physiological mechanisms of will and bodily movement. The accompanying photographs of my own anatomical dissections illuminate ancient and medieval conceptual, empirical, and experimental methods of anatomical and physiological research.

O autorze

Michael Frampton, MD, PhD is an independent scholar and practicing
physician residing in Chicago, IL. He received his MD
at the University of Washington, MPhil in Medical History at
Cambridge University, PhD in the History of Science at the
University of Chicago, and Board Certification in Psychiatry and
Neurology at Rochester University.