In this important new book, Hans-Georg Gadamer discusses the transformation in human self-understanding wrought by the scientific worldview, focusing in particular on the unparalleled achievements of modern medicine. He explores the ethical and humanist issues raised by the technological successes of modern clinical practice, and relates them to the classical conception of "praxis" in the philosophical tradition. In a series of lucid and engaging analyses, Gadamer eloquently defends the idea of medicine, not only as a "science of health, but as an "art" of hermeneutic relevance, requiring the exercise of practical judgment and personal interpretation. We should, he argues, recognize the limits of purely technical approach to healing, as well as the importance of a qualitative approach to medical treatment. Written by one of the leading philosophers of the twentieth century, this brilliant meditation on health, illness, and the art of healing will be of interest to general readers as well as students of philosophy and social thought.

The book brings together thirteen essays presented to medical and psychiatric societies, mainly during the 1970's and 1980's. In these essays, Gadamer justifies the reasons for a philosophical interest in health and medicine, and a corresponding need for health practitioners to enter into a dialogue with philosophy.

This series makes available in English important recent work by German philosophers on major figures in the German philosophical tradition. The volumes will provide critical perspectives on philosophers of great significance to the Anglo-American philosophical community--perspectives that have been largely ignored except by a handful of writers on German philosophy. This collection brings together in translation the finest post-war German language scholarship on Hegel's social and political philosophy, concentrating on the Elements of the Philosophy of Right.