ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the controversy between the doctrines of vitalism and organicism which in the middle of the nineteenth century opposed the schools of medicine of Montpellier and Paris. M. Berard as well did not participate in any of the medical discoveries of his time; his only contributions were an essay on variola and some clinical observations intended to serve as evidence of the doctrine of Montpellier. The controversy between Paris and Montpellier was marked by a singular historical feature that is difficult to reconcile with the principles of the relativist program, which presumes that the resolution of a scientific statement comes about through social negotiation. The promoters of Parisian medicine were all clinicians and reputable clinical observers. Observation and experimentation were incompatible with the vitalists' global approach to the human body, but they played a crucial role in the development of the localist and organicist doctrines in Paris.
