The theory of the four humors, by Hippocrates

One of the first theories that tried to explain human temperament.

Psychology is one of the youngest sciences, but that does not mean that it has not been developing over centuries, or even millennia.

In fact, some of the big questions it tries to answer began to generate theories more than 2,000 years ago. The theory of the four humors, related to the different kinds of personality that can be found in human beings, has human beings, is an example of this. It was proposed by the Greek Hippocrates.

The origins of the theory of the four humors

By the 5th century B.C., Ancient Greece, which was the cradle of what was to become Western civilization, was already beginning to forge theories about why we are the way we are and do what we do. In reality, this kind of theoretical proposals had also appeared before in other areas of the planet, but the Greek case was of special importance because there the technical advances of Asia and Egypt were united with the philosophy and the powerful cultural and philosophical activity of the area.

Greece was a region where knowledge was disseminated in a much freer way than, for example, in the Persian Empire, where the teaching of writing was highly centralized and was basically used for trade and administration.

This explains why in only three centuries Ancient Greece could become a reference point for the development of philosophy and science (in its most embryonic phase). But Greek science, like what was happening in other parts of the world, was mixed with religions and a vision of the world still very much based on old myths. This is what explains the appearance of the theory of the four humors..

What is the theory of the four humors?

Originally, the theory of the four humors, first proposed by the Greek physician Hippocrates, was based on the assumption that the human body is composed of four basic substances (the so-called "humors") and that the balances and imbalances in the amounts of these substances in an organism determine its health.

These humors corresponded to the elements air, fire, earth and water.which a few years earlier had been pointed out by the philosopher Empedocles as the raw materials of everything that exists.

Thus, the theory of the four humors was not isolated from the way reality was understood in Ancient Greece, but was linked to a belief about the origin of the planet and the cosmos in general; supposedly, all reality was a combination of different amounts of these four elements, and from there arose the theory of the four humors. The properties of these four elements, in turn, were reflected in the characteristics of the four humors that, according to Hippocrates, flowed through the human body.

The different humors according to Hippocrates

And what were these humors? Each of them expresses specific physical characteristics, in line with the thinkers of the time, who tried to describe reality from everyday properties and easily identifiable materially. Explained in detail, they were these:

1. Black bile

Substance linked to the earth elementwhose properties were cold and dryness.

2. Yellow bile

Mood corresponding to the element of fire. Its qualities were warmth and dryness.

3. Blood

Substance linked to the element of airIts properties were warmth and humidity.

4. Phlegm

The substance related to waterthe properties of which are cold and dampness.

Humors and personality

For Hippocrates and a good part of the physicians who assimilated the theories of the first during the following centuries, the theory of the four humors offered a basis on which to work in medicine, however precarious it may have been.. Thus, many treatments for diseases consisted of modifying the diet of patients so that, by ingesting certain foods, their humoral levels were balanced. In some cases, patients were bled to lose fluid for the same purpose.

But this basis for medicine was not the only thing that grew out of the theory of the four humors. Some thinkers expanded it to be able to explain not only people's health, but also the tendencies of their behavior and mental life. Among these researchers was Galen of Pergamon, a Roman physician and philosopher born in the 2nd century AD..

Galen's ideas

For Galen, imbalances in the quantities of humors had an influence on the way we think, feel and act.. In other words, their proportions were the basis of people's temperament. Naturally, each individual has levels of humors that are very rarely totally proportionate, and that is what explains the differences in personality.

When the black bile mood predominates, for example, he believed that the person tended to be melancholic and with a tendency to sadness and the expression of intense emotions, while in individuals in whom there is a greater proportion of phlegm than of the rest of substances, their temperament would be characterized by their tendency to rational analysis of situations and their facility to remain calm.

The personality types were the following

As we have seen, according to this humoral vision of the human being, health was found in the balance of these substances (the logic of balances between fundamental elements was very common at the time).

It was believed that some diseases or special situations could make this disproportion grow, aggravating the health of the person and/or making his temperament more extreme and discordant with respect to the way of being of others.

1. Blood

It corresponded to cheerful and optimistic people, with a tendency to express their affection for others and self-confidence.with a tendency to express their affection for others and self-confidence. It corresponded to the substance of blood.

2. Melancholic

Temperament defined by the presence of a large amount of black bile, its associated temperament is sad, with artistic sensibility and easy to be moved..

3. Phlegmatic

Corresponding to the phlegmatic mood, people associated with this temperament would be cold and rational..

4. Choleric

Temperament related to the yellow bile, it would be expressed in passionate people, of easy anger and with a great energy..

The theory of the four temperaments, today

The theory born with Empedocles and Hippocrates and expanded by Galen was one of the pillars of medicine until the Renaissance. Beyond this historical stage, however, it has served as an inspiration to some psychologists interested in the study of individual differences and personality, among them Hans Eysenck.

It should be noted that this classification system has no scientific valueHowever, it can serve to inspire the development of theories and hypotheses which, in time, will be supported by empirical evidence in their favor.