author
Andres Piquer
1711–1772
A leading voice of the Spanish Enlightenment, this physician and philosopher helped reshape how medicine was taught in eighteenth-century Spain. His work joined close clinical observation with a broad interest in logic, philosophy, and the history of medicine.
1 Audiobook
Logica
by Andres Piquer
About the author
Born in Fórnoles, in Aragon, on November 6, 1711, Andrés Piquer Arrufat studied philosophy and medicine at the University of Valencia and went on to build a distinguished career as a doctor, teacher, and writer. He became known as a learned and wide-ranging thinker whose work moved easily between medicine, logic, philosophy, and literary scholarship.
Piquer played an important role in renewing Spanish medical thought during the eighteenth century. Scholars describe him as a major reforming figure in the return to Hippocratic medicine in Spain, and he is also remembered for translating Hippocratic works into Spanish. His career eventually took him to the royal court, where he served as physician to Ferdinand VI and Charles III.
His reputation rests not only on his medical practice but also on his curiosity and breadth of mind. Modern historians of medicine have noted his early efforts to describe what he called a melancholic-manic condition as a distinct illness, showing how closely he observed both body and mind. Even today, he stands out as one of the most notable physician-scholars of eighteenth-century Spain.