JOURNAL ARTICLE

Physiology, Vitalism, and the Contest for Body and Soul in the Antebellum United States.

  • Published In: Journal of the History of Medicine & Allied Sciences, 2023, v. 78, n. 3. P. 227 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Riddle, Jonathan D 3 of 3

Abstract

The article focuses on the early nineteenth-century religious controversy in the United States over vitalism—the nature of human life and its relation to body and soul—as physiology emerged as a prominent science. Protestant apologists advocated immaterialist vitalism, asserting an immaterial, immortal soul essential to Christian faith and moral order, while religious skeptics promoted materialist vitalism, viewing life as a property of organized matter and denying any immaterial soul to advance scientific progress free from religious influence. Neither side fully prevailed, leading late nineteenth-century physiologists to resolve the dilemma by separating the domains of body and soul: medicine would study the physical body, leaving spiritual matters to religion. This division of labor shaped the evolving relationship between medicine and religion in America for the following century.

Additional Information

  • Source:Journal of the History of Medicine & Allied Sciences. 2023/07, Vol. 78, Issue 3, p227
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:History
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:0022-5045
  • DOI:10.1093/jhmas/jrad021
  • Accession Number:164776787
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Journal of the History of Medicine & Allied Sciences is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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