The medizinische Anthropologie of the Heidelberg School. Implications for bioethics

Abstract

This paper presents some of the thought framework underlying the movement characterized
as anthropologische Medizin and medizinische Anthropologie, developed by the Heidelberg
School. Drawing particularly upon the work of Viktor von Weizsäcker and Paul Christian,
an attempt is made to relate the basic concepts of solidarity and reciprocity to current
American bioethical thinking. Attention is paid to the peculiar historical circumstances and
consequences of Third Reich medicine and to the critical test of its major forms of theory and
practice represented by the Nürenberg doctors’ trial of 1947. A major conclusion need for
a more complete reconstruction of the theoretical underpinnings of the Heidelberg School
writings and a more thorough study of its relevance to contemporary medical humanities and
bioethics.