Brill Medical Empiricism and Philosophy of Human Nature in the 17th and 18th Century

The contributions gathered in this volume endeavour to evaluate the role played by medical empiricism in the emergence of a philosophy of human nature in the 17th century and the role played by philosophical anthropology in the 18th century. Divided into three parts, "1. The Dispute between Metaphysics and Empiricism", "2. Arts of Empirical Research," and "3. Relevance of Case Studies," the volume questions the position of medicine within so-called "natural philosophy", which encompasses physiology and anatomy, as well as physics, astronomy and chemistry. One of its aims is to understand the tension between the goals pursued by the "natural philosopher" and the objectives set by the "physician". Within natural philosophy, the primary goal is to know nature, the body and the living, and this knowledge implies an effort to understand the causes of natural phenomena. For the physician, on the other hand, the primary goal is to cure the patients' bodies that are presented to him. Contributors include: Claire Crignon, Claire Etchegaray, Guido Giglioni, Domenico Berto Meli, Anne-Lise Rey, Yvonne Wübben, and Carsten Zelle. About the Author Claire Crignon, Dr. phil (2002, Ecole Normale Supérieure Lyon) is teaching Modern English philosophy at Paris Sorbonne University and working in the field of history of philosophy and medicine and contemporary philosophy of medicine. Publications: with Marie Gaille: A qui appartient le corps humain? Belles Lettres 2004; Mélancolie et enthousiasme Burton et Shaftesbury, 2006; Je ne veux pas vieillir! Gallimard jeunesse, 2010. Carsten Zelle, Dr. phil. (1985), Habilitation (1994), Ruhr-Universität Bochum, is professor for German Studies, esp. literary theory and rhetorics. He has published monographs on agreeable horror (1987) and the dual esthetics of modernity (1995), articles about German literary history in the 18th, 19th and 20th century and edited resp. co-edited several books e.g. case history (2012) and the representation of illness (2013). He is managing editor of the journal Das achtzehnte Jahrhundert. Nunzio Allocca is teaching History of Scientific Thought at Sapienza - Università di Roma. His research interests have focused on the history and philosophy of biology and medicine in the modern age. Last main publications: Cartesio e il corpo della mente, Roma 2012; Lo spazio, l'occhio e la mente. Cartesio e la visibilità del mondo, Roma 2012.