Taylor F K
Psychol Med. 1982 May;12(2):243-50. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700046572.
Sydenham's reputation rests on his self-deceptive assertion that the allowed clinical observation to speak for itself. In fact, however, his mind was steeped in philosophical world-views that went back via the Scholastics and Galen to Plato and Aristotle. A brief survey of these views is presented to clarify Sydenham's message. The basic formula of logical set theory is then used to put in perspective Sydenham's disease postulates and later views on the nature of disease. The point is made that, in the case of cryptogenic diseases, we sometimes tend to revert unwittingly to ideas akin to those of Sydenham.
西德纳姆的声誉建立在他那自欺欺人的断言之上，即他让临床观察自行其是。然而事实上，他的思想深深浸淫于经由经院哲学家和盖伦追溯至柏拉图和亚里士多德的哲学世界观之中。现将这些观点作简要概述以阐明西德纳姆的观点。随后运用逻辑集理论的基本公式来审视西德纳姆的疾病假说以及他后来对疾病本质的看法。文中指出，在隐源性疾病的情况下，我们有时会不知不觉地回归到类似于西德纳姆的观点。
