Gesundheit Im Spiegel Der Disziplinen, Epochen, Kulturen

This is the initial volume in a new series entitled Ars medicinae - The Science of Medicine and Human Salvation. The name of the association behind the series is Initiative Gesundheit ( Health Initiative ), which is made up of physicians, researchers, and university teachers working in the sciences and the humanities. This first publication is designed to reflect the broad range of subjects to be addressed in the volumes to come, the immense variety of which has prompted the editors to opt for a format that will do justice to this multiplicity. Each volume consists of a collection of essays submitted by scientists and scholars from different disciplines. The leitmotif for the first installment is health, a concept that both delineates the boundaries of the topics envisaged and provides an introduction to the issues and problems involved. Maintaining or improving health is the objective of all medical endeavor, accordingly health is the core topic in every definition of medicine and medical activity. In line with the interdisciplinary approach adopted by Initiative Gesundheit, the essays assembled in this volume approach the subject from the perspectives of medicine, medical history, philosophy, theology, and philology. Historically, the purview extends from antiquity to the present day.