Article ID: CBB586997935

Physiology and philhellenism in the late nineteenth century: The self-fashioning of Emil du Bois-Reymond (2020)

unapi

Nineteenth-century Prussia was deeply entrenched in philhellenism, which affected the ideological framework of its public institutions. At Berlin’s Friedrich Wilhelm University, philhellenism provided the rationale for a persistent elevation of the humanities over the burgeoning experimental life sciences. Despite this outspoken hierarchy, professor of physiology Emil du Bois-Reymond eventually managed to increase the prestige of his discipline considerably. We argue that du Bois-Reymond’s use of philhellenic repertoires in his expositions on physiology for the educated German public contributed to the rise of physiology as a renowned scientific discipline. Du Bois-Reymond’s rhetorical strategies helped to disassociate experimental physiology from clinical medicine, legitimize experimental practices, and associate the emerging discipline with the more esteemed humanities and theoretical sciences. His appropriation of philhellenic rhetoric thus spurred the late nineteenth-century change in disciplinary hierarchies and helped to pave the way for the current hegemonic position of the life sciences.

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Authors & Contributors
Finkelstein, Gabriel W.
Gradmann, Christoph
Xiaoyan, Dong
Delalandre, Matthieu
Schut, Pierre-Olaf
Hansson, Nils
Concepts
Physiology
Discipline formation
Professional qualifications; status; remuneration
Science and society
Medicine
Scientific communities; interprofessional relations
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
20th century
Qing dynasty (China, 1644-1912)
Ming dynasty (China, 1368-1644)
18th century
Places
Germany
Berlin (Germany)
France
Paris (France)
England
Leipzig (Germany)
Institutions
Berlin Zoological Museum
Anatomical-zootomical Museum in Berlin
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France)
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