Philippe Hecquet
French physician
Philippe Hecquet
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Born |
11 February 1661
Abbeville
, France
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Died |
11 April 1737
(
1737-04-12
)
(aged
76)
Paris
, France
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Occupation(s) | Physician, writer |
Philippe Hecquet (11 February 1661 – 11 April 1737) was a French physician and vegetarianism activist.
Biography
Hecquet obtained his M.D. from Reims in 1684. [1] In 1688, he moved to Port-Royal-des-Champs , where he succeeded Jean Hamon , as physician. [2] He spent much time helping the poor. In 1697, he became Doctor at University of Paris and received the official hat after an examination of "rare success". [2] The Faculty named him Docteur-Régent and he was appointed as Professor of Materia Medica. In 1712, he was named Dean of the Faculty. [2]
Hecquet was an ascetic, Cartesian mechanist and vegetarian. [3] He was influenced by Porphyry . Hecquet was concerned with health from a diet perspective and campaigned against the consumption of meat, stating it interfered with digestion and circulation of the blood. [3] Hecquet noted how the rich often consumed much expensive meat, spicy sauces and strong wine which was bad for health. [4] He argued that such a diet was difficult for the body to digest and impaired the elasticity of the fluid-bearing organs. [4] He stated that if flesh was to be eaten it should only be fish. [4] He believed that fruits, grains, nuts and seeds should replace meat. Hecquet was a Jansenist Catholic and promoted a "theological medicine". [5] He argued that the Garden of Eden depicted a vegetarian regime. [3]
Hecquet argued that all physiological processes could be reduced to simple mechanisms. He developed a digestive theory of "trituration" which emphasized the grinding action of mastication and peristalsis of muscle walls of the stomach. [6] Hecquet believed fish and vegetables are superior to meat because their composition is easily broken down by trituration. [6]
Hecquet has been described as "one of the first systematic proponents of vegetarianism". [7] Historian Ken Albala credits Hecquet for making the first scientific defense of a vegetarian diet. [8]
Selected publications
- Traité de dispenses du Careme (1710)
- La Médecine, la Chirurgie, et la Pharmacie des Pauvres (1740-1742)
- La Brigandage de la Médecine (1755)
See also
References
- ↑ Osler, William. (1987). Bibliotheca Osleriana: A Catalogue of Books Illustrating the History of Medicine and Science Collected, Arranged, and Annotated . McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 262
- 1 2 3 Williams, Howard. (1896). The Ethics of Diet . London. pp. 314-318
- 1 2 3 Preece, Rod. (2008). Sins of the Flesh: A History of Ethical Vegetarian Thought . UBC Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-7748-15093
- 1 2 3 L. W. B. Brockliss. (1989). The Medico-Religious Universe of an Early Eighteenth-Century Parisian Doctor: The Case Philippe Hecquet . In Roger French; Andrew Wear. The Medical Revolution of the Seventeenth Century . Cambridge University Press. p. 202. ISBN 0-521-35510-9
- ↑ Puskar-Pasewicz, Margaret. (2010). Cultural Encyclopedia of Vegetarianism . Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-313-37556-9
- 1 2 Albala, Ken; Eden, Trudy. (2011). Food and Faith in Christian Culture . Columbia University Press. pp. 116-118. ISBN 978-0-231-52079-9
- ↑ Moulin, Léo. (2002). Eating and Drinking in Europe: A Cultural History . Mercatorfonds. p. 54
- ↑ Albala, Ken. (2009). The First Scientific Defense of a Vegetarian Diet . In Susan R. Friedland. Vegetables: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cooking 2008 . Prospect Books. pp. 29-35. ISBN 978-1-903018-66-8
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