"Utterances of pure experience." the reflection of Hippocratic thought in Goethe's poetry
Richter, W.; von Goethe, J.W.
Anatomischer Anzeiger 170(5): 313-321
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-2786 PMID: 2205125 Document Number: 360925
Many important treatises attributed to the founder of medical science and now united in the HIPPOCRATIC CORPUS, the body of Hippocrates' books, interested Goethe throughout his life, influenced his view of the world and stimulated his poetic work. Johann Georg Zimmermann's (1728-1795) perception of Hippocrates had a particularly profound effect and induced Goethe to consider Hippocrates' heritage from the "experience" aspect as a model of how man should consider the world and . . . record its events for posterity'. He studied Hippocrates' Airs, Waters and Places, which deals with environmental factors, and the treatise On Regimen especially thoroughly. Goethe's study of the experience expressed in Hippocrates' Aphorisms was particularly fruitful for his "Wilhelm Meister". His reflections on the link between theory and practice, particularly in relation to the natural sciences, are also considered.