De la table au lit

Abstract

Theodore Tarczylo : From table to bed. In the economy of salvation, the need to discipline one's nutrition is the first step towards perfection, which refuses fleshly excesses, but also the excesses of spiritual pride. The metaphor of nutrition enables us to understand the dynamism and rigour of Christian morality. It gives flesh to something that remains, essentially, beyond words. For the doctor, nutrition ensures the individual's continuity while genitality ensures that of the species as a whole ; he thus rejects both debauchery and asceticism. The principle of mediocrity thus makes medical writings appear as a continuation of moral theology, but it does not exclude, nevertheless, contrasts.