Copyright by Thomas Ettinger Baril 2008 The Dissertation Committee for Thomas Ettinger Baril certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPT OF THE POLITIC PHYSICIAN IN FRIEDRICH HOFFMANN'S MEDICUS POLITICUS Committee: ____________________________ Ignacio Angelelli, Co-Supervisor ____________________________ Laurence McCullough, Co-Supervisor _____________________________ Al Martinich _____________________________ Robert Koons _____________________________ J. Budziszewski PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPT OF THE POLITIC PHYSICIAN IN FRIEDRICH HOFFMANN’S MEDICUS POLITICUS by Thomas Ettinger Baril BA, MEd Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2008 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It will be difficult for me to list everyone to whom I should gratefully acknowledge a debt in completing this doctoral program. There are so many and I’m bound to forget someone important; for this oversight, I apologize in advance. I will start by acknowledging the first two professors in the Philosophy Department who “took me under their wing”: Drs. Johanna Seibt and Ignacio Angelelli. Both of them provided a lot of early encouragement and patience and they sponsored me into the graduate program. Johanna was also responsible for encouraging me in my first published article and subsequent presentation at a conference. I asked Ignacio to be my dissertation supervisor because I trusted his judgment and valued his friendship. After I had been in the graduate program for awhile, I was a Teaching Assistant in a Medical Ethics course taught by a young graduate student, Mark Whitburn. Mark, a strong disability-rights advocate who “walks the walk”, was truly my inspiration for choosing a career in medical ethics. I am grateful to all those who gave me my first teaching opportunities. Dr. Matthew Daude, Austin Community College, and Dr. Danny Ursery, St. Edward’s University, gave me my first jobs teaching philosophy as an adjunct instructor. Drs. Billy Turner and Todd Furman, McNeese State University, gave me my first full-time teaching position in medical ethics. All of this happened while I was still a graduate student. iv I would like to thank my dissertation committee for their guidance and support. Dr. Robert Koons was not only a key member of my committee but he was good enough to let me be his Teaching Assistant on three occasions. Dr. J. Budziszewski was my professor in political philosophy. He renewed my undergraduate interest in Natural Law Theory and was a natural choice when I discovered that my dissertation included a large segment in this area of philosophy. I would also like to acknowledge the guidance and motivation from Dr. Al Martinich who was gracious enough to agree to be on my dissertation committee. I have saved my greatest debts as a graduate student for last. I shall start with our Graduate Advisor, Jill Glenn. Jill has almost single-handedly been responsible for my entry into the graduate program as well as my continuation and completion. Jill has been a real God-send throughout the years and a dear friend. I know from talking with the other graduate students that we all feel like she gives each of us her personal attention. It is without any exaggeration that I believe Jill has had a hand in straightening out all of the academic bumps in the road these past several years. The other person to whom I owe so much is Laurence B. McCullough, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine. Larry has been my “mentor” in writing the dissertation and in my advancement in the field of medical ethics. He directed me towards a very challenging and satisfying dissertation project and served as my dissertation committee co-supervisor. The Hoffmann project was his original v idea developed from previous research in the History of Medical Ethics and I am so very grateful that he shared his professional instincts about this project with me. He has also been my best professional support throughout the dissertation process and is responsible for the committee’s teamwork in helping me complete the dissertation. Finally, he provided me some clinical experience by letting me accompany him on his “rounds” in Houston and sit in on some lectures at the medical school there. These first-hand experiences were very motivational. If Whitburn planted the seed, then McCullough nurtured the plant. It is never too late to acknowledge old debts. My mom and dad made it possible for me to get a good academic start by sacrificing so that I could go to private schools. I became academically alive and goal-oriented while in high school thanks to Father Harrison (Detroit Catholic Central High School). He was the first person to take the time to talk to me about my future and his guidance proved to be the real beginning of my love of learning. Again, he planted the seed and it was nurtured by many, but none more influentially than Mr. Carson. He taught my first philosophy class (University of Detroit) and inspired a passion for philosophy that still burns deeply. On the personal side, there were many people who helped me and my wife. In Houston, the Angels—Kateri, Federico and Federica—gave me a home away from home during my trips to Baylor. In the process they have become our most cherished friends. I am also indebted to the many fine family friends who supported my wife while I was “out of town”: the Murrays, Amber-Amber and vi Tasha deserve special mention. I also want to thank the multitude of family, friends, and well-wishers who prayed for me or encouraged me in their own way throughout the past few years. They are too legion to list. My mother has kept me in her prayers and has been very encouraging. She still slips me a few dollars as I’m leaving the house to return to my out-of- state teaching job. All of my children have supported me and their mother—in fact, without their encouragement this prolonged educational journey would not have been possible. Some of my children, including Matthew, James and Tamara, have lived in the San Antonio area and have really gone out of their way to support their mother. Mireille has traveled long distance to visit me in both Austin and Lake Charles. Tommy, Holly and Ruth have provided spiritual leadership in keeping the prayers going for me. Alex and Christina have encouraged me during our many phone calls. I don’t dare list the many deeds of my children as I’m sure they’ve done even more than I realize. But to each and every one of my children, I thank you and thank God for you. Last, but notably first, I want to thank my wife who had to endure the longest TDY of our married life. Who would have thought that life in the military was only training for the educational process? She has been my number one cheerleader and has kept the house going while I’m away—including several burst water pipes. There are not many things that I love more than philosophy, but my wife is at the top of that list. vii PREFACE There has been little English-language research on the Medicus Politicus (The Politic Physician) (1738) of Friedrich Hoffmann (1660-1742). This is probably due to the fact that it has never been translated from Latin into English. Latin was the language of the intellectual community at the time of Hoffmann’s tenure as head of the medical school at Halle. However, it was translated almost immediately into French, La Politique du Médecin (1751), and it was one of several important medical texts by Hoffmann for physicians in the eighteenth century. The English-speaking philosophy community would not have been motivated to translate the work because the Medicus Politicus would have been seen as a medical and not a philosophical text. The English-speaking medical community, on the other hand, may not have seen a need to translate this work either. When the work was originally written, most of those in the medical profession would have been well versed in Latin. Later generations of the medical community, aware that much of the medicine of Hoffmann was subsequently better developed by others, might no longer see the work as relevant. However, the current emergence of biomedical ethics as both an intellectual activity and a practical pursuit has caused a renewed interest in viii searching for our roots in the history of medical ethics. Additionally, there is an interest to see if the past has any advice to inform contemporary medical ethical issues. The recent work of McCullough (McCullough 1998) resulted in a strong case that Dr. John Gregory (1724-1773), who taught at the medical school at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, is the father of modern medical ethics in the English-speaking world. However, McCullough, during his research in Scotland, found interesting references to Hoffmann and determined that this German1 first professor of medicine at Halle may have had a greater influence on the development of medical ethics than has previously been determined by scholars. Dr. McCullough initially brought this project to my attention and has encouraged me to research Hoffmann’s contributions to medical ethics. This contextual analysis of the Medicus Politicus is the result of that encouragement. The analysis is based on my own translation. I do not make any strong claim to a philologically-complete work. I used both the Latin (Medicus Politicus) and the French (La Politique du Médecin) versions in the translation process.