Jean Baptiste Félix Descuret (5 June 1795 – 27 November 1871) was a French

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

who was a native of

Chalon-sur-Saône Chalon-sur-Saône (, literally ''Chalon on Saône'') is a city in the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefectu ...

. He studied and practiced medicine in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and afterwards worked in Châtillon-d'Azergues.

Writing career

Descuret is known primarily through his written works. His best known book is an early

psychosocial The psychosocial approach looks at individuals in the context of the combined influence that psychological factors and the surrounding social environment have on their physical and mental wellness and their ability to function. This approach is ...

study called ''Médecine des passions, ou les passions considérées dans leurs rapports avec les maladies, les lois et la religion'', which roughly translates to "The Passions' Medicine, or passions considered in their relationship to disease, laws and religion". It was published in 1841, and was the result of Descuret's interaction with many thousands of patients in Paris. It was a discussion about the diverse passions and vices of his patients from a medical, religious and economic standpoint. Another noted work was the 1856 ''Les Merveilles du corps humain'' (Marvels of the Human Body), which concerned the relationship of medicine to morals and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

, and was written to be studied by

clergymen Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and students of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

References

Biography of Jean Baptiste Félix Descuret
1795 births 1871 deaths People from Chalon-sur-Saône French psychiatrists {{France-psychiatrist-stub