At the risk of appearing peevish, perhap I might be allowed to clarify a
couple of things regarding Prof. Charlton's comments on retrospective
diagnosis, which were:
>Dr Cooks message on George III's illness makes two assumptions which may
>not be valid:
I am not sure whether his constant use of "Dr Cook" suggests that he thinks
I am a physician: I am not. Merely (and proudly) a historian.
>First that modern diagnoses are inevitable correct.
As a historian, I agree with him wholeheartedly that modern diagnoses are
inevitably correct. I only meant to say that according to simple references
tools like Dorland' Medical Dictionary, the modern definition of "porphyria"
is "any of a group of disturbances of porphyrin metabolism, characterized by
marked increase in formation and excretion of porphyrins or their
precursors. ..." Accordingly, one cannot properly use the modern diagnosis
of porphyria in cases where porphyrins cannot be found--except in a
speculative way.
>Second that Historians like doctors are trying to cure people.
No way do I think that we are trying to cure people.
>Biographers--even psychobiograpers--are mere trying to understand their
>subjects better. And unlike doctors, or analysts, if they get it wrong
>their is no chance that the subject will get sicker, die, or even kill
>him or herself.
Of course biographers ought to try to understand their subjects better. I
am not a methodological hyper-empiricist, either. I only am making a plea
that as scholars, we make the basis for our judgments clear to our readers.
G. III was mad. Why? It might be due to many things. Pick one, but make
it clear 1) why it makes a difference, and 2) why you chose as you do.
>If we should--as Dr Cook seems to imply--be held to the same standards as
>the medical profession, surely we should be paid at the same level?
>If that were to be the case I would be more than happy to agree with Dr Cook.
Who should be paid, at what level? NOw we're on to an interesting subject!
Harold J. Cook (Ph.D. in history, Univ. of Michigan, 1981)
Dept. History of Medicine
University of Wisconsin-Madison
hjcook@facstaff.wisc.edu