Ideas on pain of the soul in Brazilian colonial times

• Grant number: 06/00708-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2006
• End date: July 31, 2010
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Science
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Jose Carvalho da Silva
• Grantee: Paulo Jose Carvalho da Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e da Saúde. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project investigates ideas on pain of the soul present in Portuguese and Brazilian sources of the XVI, XVII and XVIII centuries, such as physicians; books, health regimens, sermons, spiritual instructions, philosophy treatises and the correspondence. That represents an original way to make history of Psychology, emergent area inside a history of Science studies centre. En general, body and soul pain was treated in an integrated way. Our main goal is to understand their pain concepts examination its cultural heritage, the gender of the particular source and the ideas circulation. Beside the intellectual historical research, the analysis includes an epistemological reflection on past knowledge and those times procedures for relieving pain. That would help to understand the history of the definition of subjects, methods and conceptual dialogues between psychological ideas and Medicine, Life Sciences, Philosophy, Religion and the Brazilian and European culture. (AU)