The Practical Application of Psychobiological Theory of the Four Humors in the Jesuit Colleges of the Modern Age: A Model of Guidance for Allocating Government Positions

摘要

The Jesuits of the so-called Old Company (1540-1767) were excellent compilers of the old humoral theories of Hippocrates and Galen; it connects with the medieval tradition of Renaissance humanism. As is known, this theory proposed the existence of four types of liquids or humors in the organism (blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile) from which derived their corresponding psychological temperaments: sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric and melancholic. Soon the Jesuits moved the practical level of knowledge about the moods applying to the field of psychological guidance. His most notable contribution is related to organizational and performance aspects of the colleges and more specifically to government positions. Psychosomatic variables such as intelligence, common sense, prudence, experience or physique is systematically collected in the so-called secret catalogs. Each school must to send Rome on a periodically (every three years), the list of Jesuits and psychosomatic characters who lived there. These profiles psychosomatic will be the basis for making decisions on the allocation of government positions. In this sense, the Jesuits designed an innovative model of counseling based on the ancient humoral theory and in practice allowed the identification of individuals most suitable for the positions of government colleges and of the own Order.