Oliva Sabuco

Sabuco combined ancient Greek and Christian philosophies, along with Aristotelian views in order to explain how the mind and body interact in a holistic manner.[8] She believed human nature to be a single concept, where the rational soul and spiritual soul must co-occur for a human being to exist.[8] A human being would be considered a corpse with no potential for living when it lacked either of the two souls.[8] Sabuco agreed with Atristotle's vision of form and matter in relation to the body: they both believed the interaction between the mind and body was the formal organization of a whole living human being.[9] Her theory differed in the sense that the human being could not exist until the divine soul/mind coexisted with the body/matter.[9]

Her approach to the mind–body interaction mirrored that of Plato’s. The mind was in charge of moral judgments and reasons which caused the body to react in certain ways. Therefore, the body carried out the moral judgments that were processed. Sabuco placed emphasis on self-knowledge and the capacity of the mind to exercise free will. Self-knowledge and ethical decisions allowed hope, health, strength and a natural life span to be placed on the human body while free will directed the passions and emotions.[10]

According to Sabuco, the soul was divided into three parts: the sensitive, the biological, and the intellectual soul, all which would be in a harmonic balance with one another.[11] The balance between the four humors, hot, cold, wet, and dry must also be in harmony in order for the human organ system to be in a healthy state.[11] Sabuco used a temperature-humidity schema, derived from Hippocrates, to evaluate illnesses and individuals’ state of health.[11] Although her ideas originated from Hippocrates’s four bodily humors, Sabuco denied the importance of his theory and insisted the focus lie on the severity of temperature and humidity.[11] For example, illnesses, disabilities and premature death were results of disharmony among the three parts of the soul or the temperature-humidity schema.[11] Sabuco also coined the term chilo, which was a white liquid energizing force that traveled through a complex network of anatomical channels from one organ system to another.[12] Chilo maintained the proper temperature and humidity within the body; nonetheless, an imbalance could lead to negative states of health.[12] The purpose of chilo was to communicate movement to the bodily organs and orient them to carry out the goal meant to be accomplished.[13]

Sabuco’s theory of moral philosophy incorporated traditional views of virtue ethics. Good and evil were intertwined in the world and could banish each other.[14] Her theory stated how something good could be present in evil and something evil could be present in good.[14] There was never such a concept as pure evil or pure good. Within her theory of human nature only two evils existed, avoidable diseases and premature aging.[14] Sabuco promoted moderation and temperance to control emotions and passions; her theory originated from Plato’s concept of sophrosyne, where self-understanding is used to obtain wisdom and virtue.[14] However, she referenced temperance as the most important virtue that was obtained through self-knowledge. Temperance and wisdom were then labeled as the answers to evil because they sustained human life and provided peace, happiness, and content between emotions and the soul.[15]

The second part of her work described astronomical and geological events and how they support the theory of human nature. It was important to learn how the macrocosm functions because humans were a microcosm within the board world.[6] Understanding how the world came to be would teach humans how to live in that world.[6] A person's condition, whether improving or declining was related to cosmology.[6] Such topics included the moon, the magnitude of the Earth and its atmosphere, solar and lunar eclipses and the magnitude of the cosmos.[16] An individual's life cycle would improve or decline just like a moon's cycle would be waxing or waning.[17] Within macrocosm, the moon was defined as the brain of the world which provided moisture and growth to its waters.[18] Microcosm, on the other hand, described the sun as the heart of the world which gave warmth and life to the world.[18] The emphasis was placed on the brain, making it more significant than the heart, as the moon was more vital than the sun.[18]

Sabuco introduced smaller systems of reformation into her idea of human nature. Sabuco advocated for the creation of legislative, judicial and social reforms in the welfare rights of the powerless, people such as peasants, workers and householders.[19] The powerless were the ones whose health was severely impacted the most by the misery and despair of everyday life.[20] Excess and greed should be avoided because they were bad for the social and individual body.[20]

She argued for a legal reformation of judicial laws, doctrines of appeals and better protection under the law. She reasoned that the individuals who created the laws would be the only ones who would comprehend them.[21] Therefore, the laws would not be applicable or fair to lower socioeconomic classes who did not partake in the creation of them. Laws must be clear, written in simple language and precise so proper justice could be granted to the poor.[21] Sabuco also argued against juridical doctrines of appeal to authority figures of Roman law.[22] Authoritarian power was passed down through generations and individuals' verdicts had varying interpretations from previous generations of authorities who lacked knowledge about the present case.[22] As a result, she believed protection under the law was unequal for most of the public and most did not receive proper justice.[22]

Legislative reformation should include protection for farmers and peasants because their labor and production was essential in the survival of others within the nation. She was a strong proponent of preventing the authority from confiscating land, livestock, and crops.[23]

Sabuco criticized university policies and the objectives of the education system. She mentioned the lack of proper criteria for an individual regarding admissions and recommended examiners evaluate potential candidates' abilities when granting admission. She also denounced the importance of charging students tuition because students were admitted who could afford tuition but lacked the proper aptitude to succeed.[23]

Sabuco disagreed with the traditional medical theory and thought its failure to control medicine was due to people's ignorance on the impact of emotions on physical health.[24] Emotions such as anger, sadness, love, excessive joy, hatred, shame and distrust caused imbalances in the bodily humors which squeezed the humor and humidity out of the brain where the soul was located.[25] The only true appropriate medicine would comfort the brain and be in accordance between the body and the soul.[26] Words and deeds that generated joy and hope and taking care of the stomach were the three pillars of health that could comfort the brain.[26] If optimism, contented happiness and abdominal temperature were left unattended they could lead to sorrow, discontent and melancholy.[20] Another general remedy mentioned was the diversion of humor through bodily openings so it would not reach internal organs.[20]