The Commentary on the Hippocratic Oath by Johann Heinrich Meibom

Description

Johann Heinrich Meibom (1590-1655), a physician from Helmstedt, wrote a complex and erudite commentary on the Hippocratic Oath (1643). This book approaches the commentary from different fronts; the author – his life and work-, the Hippocratic Oath and its textual tradition and Meibom’s commentary as a text and a book. Thanks to the analysis of different sources and archives, it was possible to reconstruct the writing process of chapter 15th of Meibom’s Commentary, devoted to the Hippocratic Oath clause about abortion. As part of the analysis, this book presents a new interpretation of this Hippocratic clause, not as an anti-abortion but anti-gynaecological-harm clause. This book also offers a reflection inspired by Meibom’s sources to deal with the still-existing problem of abortion.