Gideon Manning

Gideon Manning, an associate professor of history of medicine at Cedars-Sinai, dives into Descartes' profound impact on medical science. He explores Descartes' aspiration to preserve health, his mechanical explanations of organs, and the blend of experimentation with mechanistic ideas. Manning highlights the dualism in Descartes' thought and its relevance to psychosomatic treatments. They also discuss how Descartes' medical ideas were received and the myth versus reality of his holistic approach to health, revealing a rich interplay between philosophy and medicine.