Book Chapter

“Errori popolari:” How a Medical Notion Became an Aesthetic One

  • Paolo Cherchi

The notion and the linguistic coinage of “errore popolare” is not as old as it is commonly believed, but comes from the history of medicine when in the late 16th Century, the Sorbonne’s professors labelled as “erreur populaire” the paracelsian therapies. The definition became common in Italy and England. Another area where the idea of “errore popolare” was widespread is that of religion, where the notion of “error” borders with that of heresy, superstition and magic. However, the “scientific revolution” did not identify the mistakes with a social class or discipline but in the way knowledge was acquired: only the criteria of proof and evidence dispelled erroneous notions. Thus the “scientific knowledge” discredited the beliefs of the ancients, considered to be their major source, and confined them the sphere of imagination which was to be highly appreciated in the Romantic age. Such a change in perception and evaluation was favored by the new vision of the popular culture, folklore, seen as an autonomous cultural system.

  • Keywords:
  • vulgus,
  • paracelsian medicine,
  • ciarlatani,
  • secrets,
  • popular errors,
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Paolo Cherchi

University of Chicago, United States

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  • Publication Year: 2023
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Chapter Information

Chapter Title

“Errori popolari:” How a Medical Notion Became an Aesthetic One

Authors

Paolo Cherchi

Language

Italian

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0266-4.05

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Errors, False Opinions and Defective Knowledge in Early Modern Europe

Authors

Marco Faini, Marco Sgarbi

Peer Reviewed

Number of Pages

145

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0266-4

ISBN Print

979-12-215-0265-7

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979-12-215-0266-4

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Knowledge and its Histories

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