»Vernünftige Ärzte«: Hallesche Psychomediziner und die Anfänge der Anthropologie in der deutschsprachigen Frühaufklärung (Hallesche Beiträge zur Europäischen Aufklärung, 19)

by Carsten Zelle (Editor)

The volume explores the significance of Halle's 'sensitive physicians' (inspired by the writings of Stahl, Krüger, Unzer, E.A. Nicolai, Bolten, and others) for the 'anthropological turn' that took place around 1750. In so doing it sets out in quest of pre-anthropological anthropology (see Platner and the late-Enlightenment 'philosophical physicians' for an analogy). Of central concern are (1) the roots of anthropology and aesthetics (Baumgarten, Meier, etc.) in the context of Stahlianism, pietism, Thomasianism, Wolffianism, (2) the predating of the origins of anthropology from late to early Enlightenment thinking, (3) the common roots of anthropology and aesthetics in a shared anti-Cartesian bid to supplement traditional logic with a 'logic of sensitive knowledge' (aesthetics) and a holistic image of the human animal encompassing body, mind, and spirit (anthropology). The articles break new ground by examining areas of modernism that have been successfully elbowed aside by Cartesian scientism and have thus been largely neglected in the historiography of science. Awareness of the anti-Cartesian currents in aesthetics and anthropology in and around 1750 also points up clear parallels between the 'sensitive physicians' and important tendencies in present-day thinking on psychosomatics and holistic therapy. It also points the way to a 'logic of the individual'.

241 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001