Article
A Draft of Kant’s Reply to Hufeland: Key Questions of Kant’s Dietetics and the Problem of Its Systematic Place in His Philosophy
Kant-studien
(2012)
Abstract
The article provides an introduction to an autograph draft of a letter on dietetics Kant wrote to the physician Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland and uses it as a springboard for the critical discussion of Kant’s dietetics as well as its systematic place in his philosophy. The final draft of Kant’s letter to Hufeland became the third part of The Conflict of the Faculties. The article argues that Kant (1) assigns dietetics, understood as the regulation of the traditional nonnaturals, to philosophy and not to medicine; (2) that he regards moral health as the basis for physical health; and (3) that his view of the systematic place of dietetics in his philosophy is inconsistent.
Keywords
- Hufeland,
- medicine,
- dietetics,
- sustine et abstine,
- technically practical,
- morally practical,
- duty
Disciplines
Publication Date
January 1, 2012
DOI
10.1515/KANT-2012-0019
Citation Information
Yvonne Unna. "A Draft of Kant’s Reply to Hufeland: Key Questions of Kant’s Dietetics and the Problem of Its Systematic Place in His Philosophy" Kant-studien Vol. 103 Iss. 3 (2012) p. 271 - 291 ISSN: 0022-8877 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/yvonne-unna/2/