Dalla Scozia all’Italia. Il dibattito sulla dottrina medica di John Brown tra Rivoluzione e Restaurazione

The gradual crumbling – in particular during the 18th and 19th centuries – of some dogmas in the medical field, which based their essence in the old alliance between science and philosophy, has certainly not been an easy and immediate deed. Mental meditations in science will gradually give way to more concrete types of “empirical realism”. Scottish physician John Brown contrived a theory whose innovative aspect was to attempt a systematic disintegration of the ancient theories, as the Hippocratic one. Soon criticized by representatives of the old school, on the contrary brownismo has received with enthusiasm mainly by young physicians, happy to embrace a new doctrine against old and outdated theories and practices. Brownismo goes out soon from Scottish territories to spread in deep across Europe, and in Italy too. Between revolutionary events and constitutional experiments, the new science fits with more complex and deep thoughts of socio-institutional changes.