Aph 87 - Organon 6
Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 11:39 am
ยง 87
And thus the physician obtains more precise information respecting each particular detail, but
without ever framing his questions so as to suggest the answer to the patient1, so that he shall
only have to answer yes or no; else he will be misled to answer in the affirmative or negative
something untrue, half true, or not strictly correct, either from indolence or in order to please
his interrogator, from which a false picture of the disease and an unsuitable mode of treatment must
result.
1 For instance the physician should not ask, Was not this or that circumstance present? He should
never be guilty of making such suggestions, which tend to seduce the patient into giving a false
answer and a false account of his symptoms.
And thus the physician obtains more precise information respecting each particular detail, but
without ever framing his questions so as to suggest the answer to the patient1, so that he shall
only have to answer yes or no; else he will be misled to answer in the affirmative or negative
something untrue, half true, or not strictly correct, either from indolence or in order to please
his interrogator, from which a false picture of the disease and an unsuitable mode of treatment must
result.
1 For instance the physician should not ask, Was not this or that circumstance present? He should
never be guilty of making such suggestions, which tend to seduce the patient into giving a false
answer and a false account of his symptoms.