Aristotle's gynecology : facts, evidence, and early medicine /
This book discusses Aristotle's methods for the establishment of gynecological facts within his natural science. It argues that many of the gynecological phenomena at stake, such the nature of menstrual blood, the role of female pleasure during sex and women's experiences of erotic dreams,...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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New York :
Oxford University Press,
[2025].
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| Summary: | This book discusses Aristotle's methods for the establishment of gynecological facts within his natural science. It argues that many of the gynecological phenomena at stake, such the nature of menstrual blood, the role of female pleasure during sex and women's experiences of erotic dreams, their knowledge of conception and their experiences of (false) pregnancy and childbirth, were, mostly for sociocultural reasons, not at all or not immediately accessible for a male natural scientific observer such as Aristotle. Given this lack of immediate empirical evidence, Aristotle employed alternative methods for the establishment of facts, such as relying on signs and circumstantial empirical evidence or using analogical and probabilistic reasoning-and relied heavily on existing expert reports, such as mainly early medical sources but also sometimes verbal reports from women themselves. |
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| Physical Description: | xxx, 285 pages ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages [257]-265) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780197790397 0197790399 |