Philippe Hecquet (11 February 1661 – 11 April 1737) was a French
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
and
vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism may ...
activist.
Biography
Hecquet obtained his
M.D.
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...
from
Reims
Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne.
Founded by ...
in 1684. In 1688, he moved to
Port-Royal-des-Champs, where he succeeded
Jean Hamon, as physician.
[Williams, Howard. (1896)]
''The Ethics of Diet''
London. pp. 314-318 He spent much time helping the poor. In 1697, he became Doctor at
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
and received the official hat after an examination of "rare success".
The Faculty named him Docteur-Régent and he was appointed as Professor of Materia Medica. In 1712, he was named Dean of the Faculty.
Hecquet was an ascetic,
Cartesian Cartesian means of or relating to the French philosopher René Descartes—from his Latinized name ''Cartesius''. It may refer to:
Mathematics
*Cartesian closed category, a closed category in category theory
*Cartesian coordinate system, modern ...
mechanist and vegetarian.
[Preece, Rod. (2008). ''Sins of the Flesh: A History of Ethical Vegetarian Thought''. UBC Press. p. 177. ] He was influenced by
Porphyry. Hecquet was concerned with health from a diet perspective and campaigned against the consumption of meat, stating it interfered with digestion and circulation of the blood.
Hecquet noted how the rich often consumed much expensive meat, spicy sauces and strong wine which was bad for health.
[L. W. B. Brockliss. (1989). ''The Medico-Religious Universe of an Early Eighteenth-Century Parisian Doctor: The Case Philippe Hecquet''. In Roger French; Andrew Wear. ''The Medical Revolution of the Seventeenth Century''. Cambridge University Press. p. 202. ] He argued that such a diet was difficult for the body to digest and impaired the elasticity of the fluid-bearing organs.
He stated that if flesh was to be eaten it should only be fish.
He believed that fruits, grains, nuts and seeds should replace meat. Hecquet was a
Jansenist Catholic and promoted a "theological medicine". He argued that the
Garden of Eden
In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...
depicted a vegetarian regime.
Hecquet argued that all physiological processes could be reduced to simple mechanisms. He developed a digestive theory of "trituration" which emphasized the grinding action of
mastication
Chewing or mastication is the process by which food is crushed and ground by teeth. It is the first step of digestion, and it increases the surface area of foods to allow a more efficient break down by enzymes. During the mastication process, th ...
and
peristalsis
Peristalsis ( , ) is a radially symmetrical contraction and relaxation of muscles that propagate in a wave down a tube, in an anterograde direction. Peristalsis is progression of coordinated contraction of involuntary circular muscles, which ...
of muscle walls of the stomach.
[Albala, Ken; Eden, Trudy. (2011). ''Food and Faith in Christian Culture''. Columbia University Press. pp. 116-118. ] Hecquet believed fish and vegetables are superior to meat because their composition is easily broken down by trituration.
Hecquet has been described as "one of the first systematic proponents of vegetarianism". Historian
Ken Albala
Ken Albala is Professor of History at the University of the Pacific (United States)
University of the Pacific (Pacific or UOP) is a private Methodist-affiliated university with its main campus in Stockton, California, and graduate campuses i ...
credits Hecquet for making the first scientific defense of a vegetarian diet.
[Albala, Ken. (2009). ''The First Scientific Defense of a Vegetarian Diet''. In Susan R. Friedland. ''Vegetables: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cooking 2008''. Prospect Books. pp. 29-35. ]
Selected publications
''Traité de dispenses du Careme''(1710)
*''La Médecine, la Chirurgie, et la Pharmacie des Pauvres'' (1740-1742)
*''La Brigandage de la Médecine'' (1755)
See also
*
History of vegetarianism
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hecquet, Philippe
1661 births
1737 deaths
18th-century French physicians
French vegetarianism activists
Jansenists
People from Abbeville
University of Paris alumni