Joseph Demarco

Joseph Demarco
Born (1718-01-02)January 2, 1718
Cospicua, Malta
Died August 13, 1793(1793-08-13) (aged 75)
Cospicua, Malta
Occupation Medicine, Philosophy

Joseph Demarco (1718–1793) was a Maltese medical practitioner, a scientist, and a major philosopher. His areas of specialisation in philosophy were mostly philosophical psychology and physiology.[1]

Demarco’s extensive interests make him quite unique. Indeed, though his main concern was human health, in his case this must be understood in the widest of meanings. Certainly, he was fascinated by the mechanisms of the human body, but also with its infirmities, especially within their psychological and social contexts. This brought him to be very much attracted to the philosophical underpinnings of the human condition in all of its aspects. Both his life and his writings are proof enough of this.

Life

Beginnings

Demarco was born on January 2, 1718, at Cospicua, Malta.[2] This seaport and dry-dock hub was also a place where many different peoples congregated. More so since the then Grand Master of the Knights Hospitallers, António Manoel de Vilhena, had given free entry to the harbours to all nations.

Fortunate enough to be born within a well-off family, Demarco was given a good education (including a solid knowledge of Latin), probably at the Collegium Melitense of the Jesuits in Valletta, Malta.[3] From an early age, his eyes were set on the medical profession, one highly regarded and very much encouraged by the Knights Hospitallers. Already as a young boy, his medical intellectual curiosity drew him to speculate about the effect of atmospheric conditions on the human body, as his writing from 1933 (De Aere),[4] at only fifteen years of age, attests. Of course, he was also very much interested in understanding physical illnesses, as his writing from 1741 (De Tumoribus Humoralibus),[5] on swellings caused by liquid retention, shows. In addition, he was from an early age piqued by instances of pathological madness, common to congested urban areas as his home-town, Cospicua, was, and made some particular observations about the phenomenon (especially that caused by rabies) around 1742 (Tractatus de Rabie).[6]

A page from one of Demarco's manuscripts

However, during this formative time Demarco also entertained interests in other scientific areas. Still in his early twenties, around 1742 he engaged himself in speculations on standard trigonometry (Trattato della Trigonometria Piana)[7] and elementary arithmetic (Vulgaris Arithmeticæ Elementaris Theoria),[8] giving them also some philosophical depth. During the same period, he wrote short studies on hydrostatics in general (Breve Compendio dell’Idrostatica)[9] and on hydrostatic sources and technology (Trattato de Fonti e Machine Adrostiche).[10]

France interlude

At just 24 years of age, in 1742, Demarco went to France to pursue a medical degree. Naturally, this was made possible by his parents’ financial resources. He studied at the University of Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon région of the south of France. In particular, he studied under the renowned physician and botanist, François Boissier de Sauvages de Lacroix. This is also attested by a document written by Demarco, Physiologie Cursus: Anatomico – meccanico – experimentalis (A Course in Physiology: Anatomical – mechanical – experimental; 1765) which originates from De Sauvages’ course on the subject.[11]

Demarco’s writings during this period bear out to his professional and proficient stance in medical matters. In particular, one may note his investigations dealing with chest (Tractatus De Morbis Pectoris)[12] and abdominal ailments (De Morbis Abdominis).[13] In all probability, it was this dexterity and expertise which convinced his lecturers to trust him, from amongst his peers, with a course on physics (as his Traité de Physique attests).[14] This must have been highly prestigious for the young freshman.

Having completed his two-year course in medicine, Demarco defended his thesis in 1743. It was entitled Dissertatio Physiologica de Respiratione, ejusque Uso Primario (Physiological Aspects of Respiration and its Primary Significance). The work was published a year later, in 1744, at Montpellier.[15]

Malta period

Demarco returned to Malta as Doctor of Medicine, but also with a keen eye on social affairs. It seems that his acquaintance with Illuminist philosophy while in France enhanced his sensitivity towards communal needs and societal acclimatisation. Nevertheless, throughout his long career he never directly involved himself in any political activity, not even when the French Revolution erupted on the European scene.

His commitment was of a purely medical nature. And if every now and then he reached out into philosophical spheres, he always did this in strict relationship to his medical speculations. Demarco, in fact, was not seem sympathetic towards any revolutionary beliefs or objectives. On the contrary, he was a close collaborator and a personal friend of the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitallers, Manuel Pinto da Fonseca, who immediately, on Demarco’s return to Malta, chose him as Principle Medical Officer for the Maltese Islands. His loyalty to the Knights Hospitallers went unblemished throughout his entire life.

Professional career

Demarco’s main professional asset was his sharp eye for observation. This is amply attested by the thirty-four works we have from his forty-two year career in Malta after his return from Paris. All of his speculative reflections, including his philosophical ones, squarely rest on the authority of concrete experience and on pure sense data.

Though highly proficient from a professional point of view, Demarco was consistently appealed by the theoretical foundations of the medical art and by the intellectual and academic relationships which particular illnesses suggested. As seen from his various works, he inquired into philosophy in general, social philosophy, physics, pathology (as he had in his youth), mechanical physics, experimental philosophy, philosophical physiology, science in general, and various other fields of an academic and rational nature.

In 1788, when Demarco was 70 years of age (and already in poor health himself), the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitallers, Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc, requested that he went to Tripoli, then an Ottoman province, to see to the health of the pasha there, who was gravely ill. This incident demonstrates the high esteem in which Demarco was held. Not only was the matter complicated from medical point of view, but also politically sensitive (having a Christian medic treated a Muslim leader). Fortunately, the mission was a success, and Demarco’s standing was never as strong. While in Tripoli he continued to indulge his scientific and philosophical curiosity by making copiousness notes about the quality of the soil, the atmosphere, and also about local customs. He even took down observations about various illnesses and diseases, particularly (as was his passion) on the types of pathological madness he encountered there.

Death

On his return to Malta, Demarco showed serious signs of physical decline. The Order of Knights Hospitallers which he loved was fatally in trouble, not only because of the revolution in France, but also for its internal bankruptcy, corruption and loose morals. It seemed that Demarco was passing away together with a whole age.

He died at Cospicua, his home-town, on August 13, 1793, and was buried at the parish church at Cospicua.

Published works

Demarco's published works are just a handful. They are the following. While the latter three are of some interest to philosophy, the first is of a medical interest only.

The publication, which contains 402 pages, is beautifully presented with gilded edges. The material presented is extremely interesting and very detailed, and particularly relevant to philosophy. Basically it deals with the physical functions of human beings, particularly seen under the aspect of the natural environment. Demarco’s basic philosophy throughout the book is that, the more human beings are removed from nature and from natural living, the more they are susceptible to illnesses and, consequently, the more they move towards nature and live in harmony with it, the healthier they will be.
The book is divided in nine chapters. It opens with a preface, a warning to the reader, and a list of 22 proposition concerning the differences between animals. This part is based on the teachings of Aristotle. At the end, Demarco includes a separate study called Tractatus de Hepate (A Treatise concerning Hipatitis).
The nine chapters might be considered under two aspects. While the first five focus on the unnatural causes of physical malfunctions in humans, the last four concentrate on the effects that the environment and natural living have on the human body. The first five chapters respectively deal with the effects which an artificial environment have on the heart, on respiration, on the body, on the brain, and on body temperature. The successive four chapters respectively deal with the beneficial effects on the body which ensue from the natural environment, therapeutic baths, food, and drink.

Extant manuscripts with philosophical interest

All of Demarco’s manuscripts are held at the National Library of Malta in Valletta, and still in their manuscript form. Though some interest in the man’s activities and intellectual endeavours had always been kept alive amongst academics, little serious effort had ever been made to bring his scientific and philosophical accomplishments fully out in the open. The ones commented upon here are solely those which retain some philosophical interest. Of course, from a medical point of view all of his works would be relevant and worthy of thorough comprehension.

All manuscripts are written in Demarco’s typical minuscule, crammed and barely legible handwriting, which of course makes reading, transliteration, translation and study immensely difficult. This is one of the most pertinent reasons, amongst others, for which Demarco’s intellectual enterprise remains unexplored completely unto this day.

Philosophy

Social philosophy

Pathology

Philosophical physiology

Science

Other dated manuscripts

The following manuscripts are not considered to have any philosophical purport. Of course, they might have significant medical relevance. Nevertheless, as such they do not concern the main interest of this page. They are thus remained without comment or analysis.

Medical

Physics

Other undated manuscripts

As those immediately above, these manuscripts do not command any direct philosophical interest. Despite their medical relevance, they are left without comment here since they do not concern the objective of this page.

Medical

Religious

Appreciation

Joseph Demarco has rarely been considered holistically. Medical academics have concentrated on some of his works which deal with health issues, philosophers have focused on works which have philosophical significance, and classicists have directed their attention to one or two of his works which offer interesting Latin features. Notwithstanding, no comprehensive and wideranging study of the man, his times and his accomplishments has ever been made. This is direly wanting.

As seen above, the larger part of Demarco’s works are still in manuscript form, and this makes them impossible to be studied. Though the outlines of some of his work are generally identified and acknowledged, the greater number of his compositions remain unfamiliar and shrouded in obscurity.

With regard to philosophy in particular, a systematic and critical study of Demarco is still to be done. In general, it cannot be said that his philosophy is known at all, not even in general. This must necessarily entail arduous of transliteration and translation which might well be daunting. Nevertheless, it seems that Demarco certainly merits such attention and consideration.

Dated works in chronological order

  1. 1933 – De Aere (Concerning the Atmosphere)
  2. 1741 – De Tumoribus Humoralibus (Concerning the Swelling by Liquid Retention)
  3. 1742 – Trattato della Trigonometria Piana (A Treatise concerning Standard Trigonometry)
  4. 1742 – Breve Compendio dell’Idrostatica (A Short Treatise concerning Hydrostatics)
  5. c. 1742 – Tractatus de Rabie (A Treatise concerning Rabies)
  6. c. 1742 – Vulgaris Arithmeticæ Elementaris Theoria (A Common Theory of Elementary Arithmetic)
  7. c. 1742 – Trattato de Fonti e Machine Adrostiche (A Treatise concerning the Hydrostatic Sources and Technology)
  8. 1743 – Dissertatio Physiologica de Respiratione, ejusque Uso Primario (Physiological Aspects of Respiration and its Primary Significance; published in 1744)
  9. 1745 – Tractatus De Morbis Pectoris (A Treatise concerning Chest Ailments)
  10. 1745 – De Morbis Abdominis (Concerning Abdominal Ailments)
  11. 1745 – Traité de Physique (Treatise concerning Physics)
  12. 1747 – De Voce Sana et Morbosa (Concerning Healthy and Sick Voices)
  13. 1747 – Tractatus in moltiplicis Vene Sectionis (A Treatise on the various Vein Surgeries)
  14. 1747 – Del Fegato e De Polmone (Concerning Asthma and Concerning the Lungs)
  15. 1748 – Tractatus Mechanicus de Non Naturalibus (A Study on Artificial Mechanics)
  16. 1748–60 – Commentarius in Sylvam (A Commentary on Sylva)
  17. c. 1750 – Delle Torture (Concerning Torture)
  18. 1754 – Epistola Dedicatoria (A Memorial Missive)
  19. 1755 – De Restenosis (Concerning Restenosis)
  20. 1756 – De Febribus Acutis (Concerning High Fevers)
  21. 1756 – Tractatus de Multiplicis Venæ Sectionis (A Treatise on the various Vein Surgeries)
  22. 1759 – De Hydrope (Concerning Hydrops fetalis)
  23. 1759 – De Lana (Concerning Wool)
  24. c. 1760 – De Logica (Concerning Logic)
  25. c. 1760 – Varia (Miscellaneous)
  26. 1760 – Atrium in Universam Physicam Experimentalem (An Introduction to Universal Experimental Physics)
  27. 1760 – De Chocholata (Concerning Chocolate)
  28. 1763 – Generalis Philosophiæ Atrium (An General Introduction to Philosophy)
  29. 1763–87 – Fasti: Morborum Melitensis (A Record: Maltese Infirmities)
  30. 1764 – Dell’Osteologia (Concerning Osteology)
  31. 1764 – De Angiologia (Concerning Angiology)
  32. 1764 – De Secretione (Concerning Secretion)
  33. 1764 – Observationes de Morbis Cognoscitivæ Curandisque (Observations on the Knowledge and Curing of Diseases)
  34. 1764 – Tractatus de Affectione (A Treatise on the Passions)
  35. 1765 – Physiologie Cursus: Anatomico – meccanico – experimentalis (A Course in Physiology: Anatomical – mechanical – experimental)
  36. 1767 – Historiæ Morborum (A History of Diseases)
  37. 1768 – Nevrologiæ Compendium (A Compendium concerning Neurology)
  38. 1768 – De Integumentis (Concerning Bodily Coverings)
  39. 1773 – Mannarino (Mannarino)
  40. 1774 – Patologicus Brevis Cursus (A Short Course on Pathology)
  41. 1776 – Tractatus de Voce Sana et Morbosa (A Treatise concerning Healthy and Sick Voices)
  42. 1780 – Therapeutica Nosologia Cutanea (The Therapy of Skin Nosology)
  43. 1781 – De Myologia (Concerning Myology)
  44. 1781 – Tractatus Nosologia Vocalis (A Treastise on Voice Nosology)
  45. 1789 – Materies Medica (Medical Matters)

References

  1. ↑ Mark Montebello, Il-Ktieb tal-Filosofija f’Malta (A Source Book of Philosophy in Malta), PIN Publications, Malta, 2001, Vol. I, pp. 113–114.
  2. ↑ Vella, H.C.R. Vella, ed., Joseph Demarco: On the Passage of Air from the Lungs into the Blood System, Malta University Press, Malta, 1999, p. xxii and note p. xxxvii. It might be worth noting here that R. Mifsud Bonnici’s Dizzjunarju Bijo-Bibljografiku Nazzjonali Malti (1960), erroneously states that Demarco was born on November 9, 1723 (p. 171). The same goes with the date provided by M. Montebello, op. cit.. Apparently both publications have used a mistaken common source, which was D. Ignatio Saverio Mifsud’s 1760 Stromatum Melitensium, XV, ff. 11–18, at the Malta National Library. In this regard, see J. Galea, ‘Doctor Giuseppe De Marco’, The St. Luke’s Hospital Gazette, VII, 1, Malta, 1972, pp. 3–13.
  3. ↑ Ibid., p. xxii.
  4. ↑ Montebello, op. cit., vol. II, p. 114.
  5. ↑ Ibid..
  6. ↑ Ibid., p. 131.
  7. ↑ Ibid., p. 228.
  8. ↑ Ibid., vol. I, p. 29.
  9. ↑ Ibid., vol. II, p. 114.
  10. ↑ Ibid..
  11. ↑ Ibid., p. 99; National Library of Malta [NLM], Manuscript [MS.] 39#3.
  12. ↑ Ibid., p. 114.
  13. ↑ Ibid..
  14. ↑ Ibid., p. 97.
  15. ↑ Vella, op.cit., p. xxii and xl.
  16. ↑ Ibid., p. xxiii.
  17. ↑ Montebello, op. cit., vol. II, pp. 23–24.
  18. ↑ Ibid., vol. I, p. 286.
  19. ↑ Ibid., p. 78.
  20. ↑ Ibid., p. 304; NLM, MS. 1359/1.
  21. ↑ Ibid., vol. II, p. 98; NLM, MS. 1359#2.
  22. ↑ Ibid., p. 241; NLM, Manuscripts [MSS.] 38 and 39.
  23. ↑ Ibid., p. 91; NLM, MS. 35.
  24. ↑ Ibid., vol. I, p. 146; NLM, MS. 39#2,
  25. ↑ Ibid., vol. II, p. 223; NLM, MS. 1359#8.
  26. ↑ Ibid., p. 14; NLM, MS. 1360.
  27. ↑ Ibid., vol. I, p. 161; NLM, MS. 36#1.
  28. ↑ Ibid., vol. II, p. 99; NLM, MS. 39#3.
  29. ↑ Ibid., p. 82; NLM, MS. 37#2.
  30. ↑ Ibid., p. 131; NLM, MS. 1345#4.
  31. ↑ Ibid., vol. I, p. 8; NLM, MS. 36#7.
  32. ↑ Ibid., vol. II, p. 228; NLM, MS. 568
  33. ↑ Ibid., vol. I, p. 29; NLM, MS. 1345#5
  34. ↑ Ibid., vol. II, p. 97; NLM, MS. 36#6.

Sources

See also

Philosophy in Malta

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