Medicine as task--Karl E. Rothschuh's philosophy of medicine

Karl E. Rothschuh is one of the most important, but, on an international scale, relatively unknown representatives of German philosophy of medicine in the 20th century. This paper presents and discusses his central concepts systematically, especially those of anthropology, theories of health and disease. Rothschuh distinguishes two methodological approaches to anthropology: a causal analysis that considers human organism as complex causal systems, and a so-called bionomical investigation that clarifies the meaning or function of single processes in respect to the whole organism. These two perspectives complement each other. From a naturalistic point of view, Rothschuh conceptualises diseases as disorganisatorial or disbionomic processes; nevertheless, he stresses the cultural interweavement, and, hence, the normative foundation of diseases. 'Disease' is both a relational and a gradual term: It can be experienced and conceptualised subjectively by patients (aegritudo), clinically by physicians (nosos, pathos) and by society (insalubritas). Further, Rothschuh differentiates between the very definition, a notion and a concept of disease. Because of the normative character of disease, medicine cannot be a science striving for pure theoretical knowledge like physics or chemistry. Medicine is a practical science, oriented towards its goals of healing. Because of the societal position of medicine, Rothschuh describes it as task (Aufgabe). With regard to modern developments in philosophy of medicine, this paper discusses Rothschuh's theories critically and offers some starting points for necessary enhancements.