La conception ternaire corps/esprit/âme dans la pensée médicale au cours des âges

The progressive emergence of a rational medical knowledge did not prevent links with philosophy (mainly Plato and Aristotle) and theology. The tripartition body/soul/spirit (the meaning of these terms varying according to the different periods) is one of the great streams of Life philosophy, strongly promoted by the vitalist School of Montpellier. According to Barthez and Lordat, man is a unitary compound of rational soul, vital principle and matter. Chance plays a central role in today’s Biology, that asks differently the perennial question of the connection between Physics and Metaphysics