Argumentación científica y uso de la metáfora en la obra médica de Timoteo O’Scanlan (1723-1795)

Abstract

This article examines the role metaphor plays in the conceptualization and transmission of the scientific argumentation of Timoteo O’Scanlan during the final decades of the 18th century in Spain. Abreast of the medical developments in Europe in general and Spain in particular, the doctor’s goal was to establish the rigorous scientific basis of the theory and practice of inoculation and its capacity to prevent smallpox. Crucial in framing and getting across his ideas were the rhetorical and linguistic resources the doctor adopted, especially a sustained use of metaphor, to buttress his scientific arguments. The article details this usage and analyses how these resources reinforce the doctor’s scientific argumentation, neutralize the arguments of the opponents of the practice and strengthen the persuasive characteristics of his discourse.