Oliva Sabuco published in 1587 a book titled "New Philosophy of Human Nature not known and not reached by the great ancient philosophers that will improve Humans' Life and Health"(NF)⁽³⁾. She dedicated her work to the King of Spain, Phillip II, and as a feminist wrote:

:"-And may Your Honor receive this pledge from a woman, for I think it is of higher quality than many other by men..." (Preface NF). It is a comprehensive work where, in 7 treatises, she discusses medical, philosophical, political, educational and cosmological issues. In the first treaty she argues that soul/mind and body interact upon each other; that they are not isolated entities. Sabuco describes those relations by linking spiritual, psychological and physiological processes. Dualism is at the core of her arguments.

Let me start by outlining Oliva Sabuco's life and times, followed by a brief summary of her medico-philosophical theses that could enlighten us into her position on Dualism.

WHO IS OLIVA SABUCO ?

HER LIFE: Oliva Sabuco was born in Alcaraz, Albacete -Spain in 1562. Oliva got married at 18, and seven years later, she published NF. Unfortunately, there is no information about her education; all we know is that Oliva grew up in an intellectually enriching environment, among professionals. Her father and brother were pharmacists and her godfather was a well-known physician in town. At the time, physicians and pharmacists discussed the prescriptions; surely trade books were on the shelves at Sabuco's home; likely she learned from all this, and may have received specific coaching. Simon Abril, the great Spanish humanist and philosopher, himself a native of Alcaraz, was then and there the school Principal. Some have considered him her mentor. Similarities between Abril and Oliva's work are not difficult to find; they both questioned principles and methods and even used the same publisher in Madrid (Madrigal) .

Sabuco is an interesting historical figure; unfortunately, more time has been spent discussing and challenging her authorship than in a thorough evaluation of her work Her father with no evidence that we know of, claimed the authorship of NF after it was published.⁽⁴⁾ I do believe that Sabuco is an example of what Prof. Rius Gatell in her article on Moderata Ponte - akin to the special situation of women in the XVI century- says: "-.. women have then left behind the times when what they wanted to say, was said through a masculine voice, and decided to speak for themselves...-"⁽⁵⁾. But that -as she later explains- prompted a backlash of attack and condemnation of women. We have seen Oliva caught in the snarl of the patriarchal authority. That backlash is still hurting her. HER TIMES . Oliva Sabuco is a product of the great changes brought by the Renaissance when the nature of human nature was on the examination table; a time when Platonic theories were being re-considered, and holism debated. Timothy Reiss in his article "Denying the Body? Memory and the Dilemmas of History in Descartes" says: "...- The Europe of that time lived through a moment of wholeness and many artists as well as philosophers like the case of Vives and Huarte among others, had linked mind to physiology..." He goes on saying that: "...-Oliva Sabuco found the soul and its powers- understanding, memory, reason and will as well as its passions to be firmly set in the cerebrum and compact with the senses"...⁽⁶⁾

Sabuco participated with great risks in that moment of wholeness. The Inquisition - the custodian of orthodoxy- was after any ideas questioning Roman Dogma. In order to publish her perspectives on human nature, she had to learn how to cope with this constraint. How did she do it? Sabuco renders a different -if not new- perspective on the relations between soul/mind and body. Her aim is high: she dares the status quo, but her form of presentation passes all the tests; it conforms with the rules for Sabuco's thesis may be either construed as pursuing medical goals through philosophical means- or the other way around. One becomes sometimes unsure about the soundness of a single exegesis. She blames ancient philosophers for lack of clarity , yet the scope of her work is unclear. There seems to be an effort to veil it. It is not easy to arrive to certain conclusions. There are, for example, some incongruities that incite curiosity e.g.: Oliva's thesis expands on Christian doctrine, sometimes even to the extent of contradicting herself, yet, she does not follow what one would expect from a work of the time. As much as she praises God (many times as the Creator), describes the soul as eternal, affirms Heaven, and mentions Christian teachings, she, surprisingly, never cites the figure of Jesus Christ, nor the Church, nor the Genesis, nor the Purgatory, not even the Commandments. It begs the question: are these deliberate anomalies or just lapses? From Yovel's "Espinoza and the Heretics" we might conjecture in NF a "double-entendre", a common feature in exposition and publication in the XVI century. I am not a language specialist, so seriuos studies are needed. I only point out peculiarities that could become crucial in the final weighing of the philosophy of her work.

MEDICO/PHILOSOPHICAL THESES

Sabuco's theses return to the Greeks' descriptions of human nature, as in Plato's Timeaus, and the Phaedus. Harmony is at the base of Oliva Sabuco's work. Oliva says"-...Delight, Contentment and Merriment are the main reasons why mankind lives and is healthy, and Sorrow and Discontent are why he dies. Plato called this contentment and merriment the harmony between soul and body in which he included health, and the sorrow and discontent he called discord between the soul and body, and in it he included diseases, and he was right. But the physicians did not understand him."⁽⁷⁾. Sabuco, as Plato, asserts the soul as sitting in the brain, organ that rules the body ⁽⁸⁾. She presents a scientifically detailed work on how this happens. She discusses Holism and relations between soul/mind and body for medical purposes (Charmides⁽⁹⁾). She also reflects on Oriental theories where Holism and Medicine relate in ethical and psychological terms (i.e.Taoism and the Vedas). She describes the systematic interactions between soul/mind and body, which she says are responsible for humans' health and survival, mainly in the form of two main psychological / physiological processes that she calls "Harmonies". The first or main one, trickles from the brain and travels down to the rest of the body through a white sap - Sabuco's "chilo"- conveying the Pia Mater diminishing (decrement) or incremental (increment) characteristics ( results of emotional states) ⁽¹⁰⁾ which affect the body organs and functions accordingly ( health or illness). The second one, starts in the stomach and travels up to the brain carrying the good or bad processed food as result of physical conditions Sabuco claims that positive emotional states derived from Happiness and Contentment and Hope-for-the Good -that she calls -"the pillars that support health"- produce an" increment" in the Pia Mater, hence health⁽¹¹⁾. In opposition, anger, fear, sadness etc. (negative emotional states)produce a "decrement" (illnesses/death)⁽¹²⁾ . Goodness and wrongdoing affect the Pia Mater in the same manner, says Sabuco She presents a practical ethical/moral theory -armored of Christian virtues- where the salvation of the soul gets intertwined with the salvation of the body. Her proposal proffers a bilateral perspective, where interactions travel both ways: either from body to mind/ soul(the prevalent view) or from soul/mind to body .