the validating role of humoral theory in traditional Spanish‐American therapeutics

Abstract

In conventional interpretations of humoral theory in Spanish‐American popular medicine, the “principle of opposites” model (a Hot remedy for a cold illness, and vice versa) is viewed as prescriptive, that is, as a guide to therapy. Anomalous ethnomedical data from Tzintzuntzan, Mexico, suggest the opposite, that the role of theory is to validate empirical remedies administered with little or no thought given to theoretical dictates. It is further suggested that validation of prevailing curing practices is a special case of a broader principle, that the role of many cultural institutions is validation rather than prescription, as often described. [humoral theory, popular therapies, anomalous data, prescription, validation]

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