Opposed Theories
Paracelsus got his job as a physics teacher to spread his findings to an audience, despite the negative feedback that he was receiving from well-known medical people. He had a very different style of teaching, because he tended to criticize the scholars and famous physicians that were widely believed in the medical world. This made him many enemies.
An example of this is when, “To promote his lectures at the University of Basel, Switzerland, in 1527, he publicly burned the works of the acclaimed physicians Galen (129-c. 216) and Avicenna (980-1037)” (Luft).
Also, he wrote a letter to his students, saying:
"Medicine... is recognized as a sacred art. Yet, few doctors today practice it with success and therefore the time has come to bring it back to its former dignity... in ceasless toil I created [my textbooks] anew upon the foundation of experience, the supreme teacher of all things, If I want to prove anything I shall not do so by quoting authorities, but by experiment and by reasoning thereupon."
Significant Medical Advancements
Paracelsus worked with toxins and developed hormesis, a field of study on toxins that hypothesized that poisons taken in small doses may not be detrimental. Paracelsus believed that they could actually benefit people. He said:
"In all things there is a poison, and there is nothing without a poison. It depends only upon the dose whether a poison is poison or not."
Paracelsus created a written work called the Archidoxis, which most closely is translated to "Ancient Teaching, or Deepest Knowledge” (Moran). This book compiled Paracelsus' ideas and analysis on elements of nature. He developed the theory that injuries would heal themselves, and that the contemporary medical practices weren’t as effective as natural healing.
Paracelsus got his job as a physics teacher to spread his findings to an audience, despite the negative feedback that he was receiving from well-known medical people. He had a very different style of teaching, because he tended to criticize the scholars and famous physicians that were widely believed in the medical world. This made him many enemies.
An example of this is when, “To promote his lectures at the University of Basel, Switzerland, in 1527, he publicly burned the works of the acclaimed physicians Galen (129-c. 216) and Avicenna (980-1037)” (Luft).
Also, he wrote a letter to his students, saying:
"Medicine... is recognized as a sacred art. Yet, few doctors today practice it with success and therefore the time has come to bring it back to its former dignity... in ceasless toil I created [my textbooks] anew upon the foundation of experience, the supreme teacher of all things, If I want to prove anything I shall not do so by quoting authorities, but by experiment and by reasoning thereupon."
Significant Medical Advancements
Paracelsus worked with toxins and developed hormesis, a field of study on toxins that hypothesized that poisons taken in small doses may not be detrimental. Paracelsus believed that they could actually benefit people. He said:
"In all things there is a poison, and there is nothing without a poison. It depends only upon the dose whether a poison is poison or not."
Paracelsus created a written work called the Archidoxis, which most closely is translated to "Ancient Teaching, or Deepest Knowledge” (Moran). This book compiled Paracelsus' ideas and analysis on elements of nature. He developed the theory that injuries would heal themselves, and that the contemporary medical practices weren’t as effective as natural healing.