TY - BOOK AU - Poma,Roberto TI - The Weapon Salve: Science or Medical Folklore? PY - 2010///. N1 - 55 N2 - Does the healing prove the effectiveness of a medical theory ? After completing a medical treatment, may we conclude that the remedy was effective just because we « get better » ? An epistemological approach upon the history of the magnetic treatment of wounds by the weapon salve shows how some doctors and philosophers of the 16th and the 17th centuries deal with these issues. Andrea Libavius’ (1550-1616) reflection on the powers of imagination on the body and on the natural mechanisms of healing is particularly fruitful in this regard. It stresses the difference between the physiological and fictional plans of a treatment, while acknowledging their complementarity UR - https://shs.cairn.info/journal-archives-de-philosophie-2010-4-page-601?lang=en&redirect-ssocas=7080 ER -