Gulliver meets Descartes: early modern concepts of age-related memory loss.
Age-related memory loss was a marginal issue in medical discussions during early modern times and until well into the second half of the 17th century. There are many possible explanations: the lack of similar traditions in antiquity and in the Middle Ages, insufficient physiological and morphological knowledge of the brain, and the underlying conflict between idealistic and materialistic perspectives on the functions of the soul and the conditions of these in old age. After these boundaries had been pushed back by the influence of Cartesianism and Iatromechanism, the problem of age-related memory loss was increasingly regarded as a physical illness and began to receive more attention. This trend first occurred in medicine, before spreading to the literary world, where the novel "Gulliver's Travels" is one clear and famous example.
Schäfer
Daniel
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Institute for the History of Medicine and Medical Ethics, Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 9, Geb. 29, D-50931, Cologne, Germany.
D000375:Aging; D003704:Dementia / Q000266:history; D005197:Famous Persons; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049692:History, Early Modern 1451-1600; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D008093:Literature, Modern / Q000266:history*; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000266:history*