The pathology of faith

Abstract

Portuguese republican ideology gained strength during the last decades of the nineteenth century. The medical community played a decisive role in the definition of this ideology. The republican medical community’s main concern was to treat the country as a doctor treats a patient, using the language of science to align Portugal with the last stage of human development, as defined by August Comte or Herbert Spencer. This article focuses on the development of a medical discourse that supported the anti-religious actions of the first Portuguese republican governments.