Leibniz’s Medical Method

From Analytic and Synthetic Points of View

Abstract

G.W. Leibniz (1646-1716) worked on a method of universal analysis and synthesis from the late 1670s to the middle 1680s. At that time, he argued that medical method was “the true method of describing a machine” that examined the human body and “the method of treating illnesses” from both the analytic and synthetic points of view. The aim of this paper is to articulate the universal analysis and synthesis method and then clarify Leibniz’s medical method from both the analytic and synthetic points of view.

In section I, I present two reasons why Leibniz focused on medicine. Internally, Leibniz tried to perfect the mind through understanding and control over the body. Externally, he did not view contemporary medicine as sufficient. In section II, I examine some essential points of the universal analysis and synthesis method. According to Leibniz, analysis is a heuristic art that begins with a problem or effect and then arrives at a principle, cause or reason. On the contrary, synthesis reverses the analytic process beginning with a principle, cause or reason and then arriving at its use or application. In section III, I define “the true method of describing a machine.” Leibniz considered the reduction from function to vessel, humors or spirits in the analytic process. In the synthetic process, he presented a hypothetical model of the human body as “a hydraulico-pneumatico-pyrobolic machine.” In section IV, I clarify Leibniz’s “method of treating illnesses.” Leibniz used the analytic process to reduce symptoms to a simple illness. In the synthetic process, he assumed that medical professionals should combine cause, cure and symptoms. Finally, I show that Leibniz’s ideal medical method was to combine the analytic method with theory and the synthetic method with experience or praxis.