PROTEST IN THE FACULTY - RHETORICAL FUNCT ION OF THERAPEUTIC NIHILISMIN VORMARZ VIENNA

It has been a long tradition to quote from Joseph Dietl's 'manifesto' of therapeutic nihilism from 1845 to illustrate the perils of medical extremism. But Dietl's claim for medicine as a natural science cannot fully be understood without considering the social and Political circu mstances the developing New Vienna School had to face. The professiona lization of Viennese academic medicine was opposed by the forces of re staurative absolutism and, in particular, the traditional preponderanc e of medical practitioners who played a major role in the medical facu lty.