Paracelsus' theories of ‘Plague’ epidemics: current state of research

The positivist-oriented historiography of medical history based on the idea of “progress” has bequeathed us with a legacy of perceiving Paracelsus as a great reformer of sixteenth-century medical theory and practice, heralding modern “science”. This model has been subjected to scathing critique by the intellectual history of medicine. Relying on historical and philological methods, this approach have illuminated the semantic gaps between “Paracelsianism” and Paracelsus' own doctrines. In consonance with intellectual history of medicine, recent years have witnessed a trend towards a more pronounced distinction between the theories of “plague” epidemics from Paracelsus' treatises and pseudo-Paracelsian works. Researchers identify three principal difficulties in reconstructing Paracelsus' medical theories: his obscure style, the “inconsistency” of ideas across treatises, and the “vagueness” of conceptual foundations. The article elucidates these problems by reconstructing key elements of the “plague” theory in Volumen medicinæ Paramirum, partially resolving them through philosophical hermeneutics. Paracelsus uses the “plague” example to expose the ignorance of medical authorities like Galen and Avicenna, while appropriating and redefining conventional medical concepts, particularly “plague” and its “causes.” His alternative theory links epidemics and diseases to five entities (entia), conceptualised within paraconsistent logic and his microcosm-macrocosm doctrine. Particular attention is paid to the concept of astral essence (ens astralis). The appendix presents a commented Russian translation of several sections of the treatise.