Humanism influencing the organization of the health care system and the ethics of medical relations in the society of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Every successful health care system should be based on some general humanistic ideals. However, the nationally organized health care systems of most European countries usually suffer from a deficiency in common ethical values based on universal human principles. When transitional societies, such as that of Bosnia-Herzegovina are concerned, health care organizational models are even more dysfunctional. The sources of a dysfunction in medical care system of Bosnia-Herzegovina are manifold and mutually controversial, including a lack of shared principles, an inappropriate involvement of politicians in medical care and practice, administrative difficulties arising from superficial communication systems, as well as economic limits concerned with the financing of health care. The deficiency of a moral culture of medicine, which is correlated to a general collapse of morality is also responsible for many problems affecting various aspects of life including medical care. Hence, medical ethics from a virtue perspective is becoming an important ingredient of any improvement deigned to provide better-quality medical care.The aim of this paper is to underline the influence of humanism on the organization of health care systems and the ethics of medical interrelations in the society of Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is not intended to diagnose or resolve the problems, but to analyze them. It is also a critique of specific socio-political-economic influences on this health care system, inquiring if well-educated individuals in the virtues, which are involved in medical practice and education, would counteract them.In conclusion, humanism creates a universal ethical structure, which is based on human values such as fidelity, trust, benevolence, intellectual honesty, courage, compassion and truthfulness. These values should represent the standard around which medical care is organized. Since the health care system in Bosnia-Herzegovina is not entirely founded upon humanistic ideals, addressing the socio-political-economic conditions that constantly undermine those values is a prerequisite for any much-needed improvements of the medical care.

Dr. Stanko Sielski (1891-1958): Physician, scientist, humanist.

UNLABELLED: This work presents the results of research into the life and work of Dr. Stanko Sielski, related to his professional, scientific and humanitarian work. He was born in Gracanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) in 1891, to a family of Polish origins. He attended high school in Travnik and completed his studies of medicine in Vienna in 1919. During the First World War he served on the frontlines with the Austro- Hungarian army. He began his service as a doctor in Konjic, Prozor and Glamoc, and then worked in Varcar Vakuf, Zenica, Travnik, Bihac, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Tuzla. At that time in BH living conditions were very bad, the level of education of the people insufficient, there were many epidemics of infectious diseases, and the mortality of the population was high. Dr. Stanko Sielski made a significant contribution to treating the sick, preventing various diseases and the health education of the people. In the realm of the history of medicine in BA, he researched the life and work of doctors from previous generations, the work of medical institutions, old medical manuscripts written in Arabic, Persian and Turkish, folk beliefs about the origins and treatment of a variety of illnesses, and the role of herbal medicine and amulets in treating the sick. In addition, he undertook research in the fields of archaeology, ethnology and sociology. He published the results of his research in scholarly journals. In the Second World War he saved the lives of many Jewish doctors and their families from persecution in concentration camps, and as a result in 2014 he was posthumously declared "Righteous Among the Nations". CONCLUSION: Dr. Stanko Sielski, alongside his work as a doctor, was also involved in a variety of scientific research and publication work, which contributed to the preservation and a better understanding of the material and spiritual heritage of BH.

Strange history: the fall of Rome explained in Hereditas.

In 1921 Hereditas published an article on the fall of Rome written by the famous classical scholar Martin P:son Nilsson. Why was a paper on this unexpected topic printed in the newly founded journal? To Nilsson, the demise of the Roman Empire was explained by the "bastardization" occurring between "races" from different parts of the realm. Offspring from mixed couples were of a less stable "type" than their parents, due to the breaking up by recombination of the original hereditary dispositions, which led to a general loss of competence to rule and govern. Thus, the "hardness" of human genes, together with their recombination, was - according to Nilsson - the main cause of the fall of Rome. Nilsson's argument is not particularly convincingly presented. Human "races" are taken to have the same genetic structure as inbred crop strains, and Nilsson believes in a metaphysical unity between the individual and the race to which it belongs. However, in my view, Martin P:son Nilsson and his friend Herman Nilsson-Ehle had wider aims with the article than to explain a historical event. The article can be read as indicating strong support from the classical human sciences to the ambitious new science of genetics. Support is also transferred from genetics to the conservative worldview, where the immutability and inflexibility of the Mendelian genes are used to strengthen the wish for greater stability in politics and life. The strange article in Hereditas can, thus, be read as an early instance in the - still ongoing - tug-of-war between the conservative and the liberal ideological poles over how genetic results best are socially interpreted.

[The clinical views of the humanist doctor F.P. Haas (the first quarter of the XIXth century). On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the publication of F.P. Haas' book "Ma visite aux Eaux d'Alexandre en 1809 et 1810" (M., 1811)].

This paper is devoted to the analysis of clinical principles of physician humanist F.P. Haas expounded in his book "Ma visite aux Eaux d'Alexandre en 1809 at 1810" by F.P. Haas (M., 1811). The translation of this book into the Russian language gave an idea of the clinical views of the medical profession in this country in the beginning of the XIXth century (before the Patriotic War of 1812) including relationship between doctors and their patients and medical ethics. Haas proposed a well-substantiated therapeutic strategy with the use of mineral waters taking into consideration residual assimilative capacity of the patient's organism.

Bruteau's philosophy of spiritual evolution and consciousness: foundation for a nursing cosmology.

The ontological foundation of the modern world view based on irreconcilable dichotomies has held hegemonic status since the dawn of the scientific revolution. The post-modern critique has exposed the inadequacies of the modern perspective and challenged the potential for any narrative to adequately ground a vision for the future. This paper proposes that the philosophy of Beatrice Bruteau can support a foundation for a visionary world view consistent with nursing's respect for human dignity and societal health. The author discusses the key concepts of Bruteau's perspective on societal evolution based on an integrated study of science, mathematics, religion, and philosophy. This perspective is discussed as a foundation to move beyond the dichotomous influence of the modern world view and the deconstructive critique of the post-modern perspective. The author suggests spiritual evolution and a participatory consciousness as an ontological foundation for a cosmology congruent with nursing's social mandate.

[Jean Fernel and the humanist spirit]. / Jean Fernel et l'esprit humaniste.

Jean Fernel (1497-1558) embodied the humanist spirit of the Renaissance. He studied philosophy (especially Aristotle), astrology, arithmetic, mathematics and Latin literature before devoting his life to medicine. He conducted a comprehensive synthesis of the medical system of Galen, and invented the terms "physiology" and "pathology". His taste for teaching, his extensive clinical practice, his benevolent attitude to the sick, and his consideration for individuals and for human nature all contribute to Jean Fernel's image as a humanist. He was the most famous physician of his time, although his work relying on philosophy and galenic dogmatism eventually became obsolete. Forgotten for half a millennium, this distant precursor of holistic medicine is worthy of renewed interest.

Exercises for mind and body: Giulio Mancini, collecting, and the beholding of landscape painting in the seventeenth century.

This article explores the intellectual foundations for the development of princely art collections, and of Italian picture galleries in particular, as spaces for combined physical and mental exercise and recreation. This study then establishes the relationship between the therapeutic function of picture galleries and the manner in which landscape paintings produced for princely collectors at this moment in Italy embodied ideals of both exercise and repose.

[Beginning, formative power and intellect agent of Nicolò Leoniceno between the Arabic-Latin tradition and the rebirth of the Greek commentators]. / Semence, vertu formatrice et intellect agent chez Nicolò Leoniceno entre la tradition arabo-latine et la renaissance des commentateurs grecs.

The treatise On Formative Power (Venice, 1506) of Ferrara's emblematic medical humanist, Nicolò Leoniceno (1428-1524), is the one of the first embryological monographs of the Renaissance. It shows, at the same time, the continuity of medieval Arabo-Latin tradition and the new elements brought by Renaissance medical humanism, namely through the use of the ancient Greek commentators of Aristotle like Simplicius. Thus this treatise stands at the crossroad of these two currents. The present study analyses the range of Leoniceno's philosophical discussion, determines its exact sources and brings to light premises for the early modern development of the concept of formative force, which will end up in the theory of "plastic nature" at the heart of the Scientific Revolution.

Between Galen, Geddes, and the Gael: Arthur Brock, modernity, and medical humanism in early-twentieth-century Scotland.

Arthur Brock (1879-1947) is generally remembered as the physician who treated poet Wilfred Owen for shell shock and as the translator of Galen and other ancient physicians. He was also a key figure in the early-twentieth-century humanist revival within medicine. Brock's interest in humanism, I argue, was inspired by a broader concern about modernity and by a desire to return medicine and society to the more harmonious, organic existence that he believed was characteristic of ancient Greece and could still be found among "primitive" peoples, such as the Scottish Gaels. This article explores Brock's anxieties about modernity and its relations to his interests in ancient and "primitive" peoples; to his medical thought and practice; to his interests in history, sociology, language, and translation; and to his involvement in the social and political life of Edinburgh and North Queensferry, where he moved in 1925. Crucially, it shows how all these interests and activities were influenced by Brock's mentor, Edinburgh polymath Patrick Geddes. The article concludes with a discussion of Brock's place in early-twentieth-century medical humanism.

Franklin and Mesmer: an encounter.

In 1784, as the Enlightenment was on the wane, Paris faced a debate in which reason confronted the supernatural and the mysterious. Dr. Mesmer, a graduate of the medical school in Vienna, had been running a "magnetic clinic" based on the belief that magnetic fluid, flowing from the stars, permeated all living beings and that every disease was due to an obstruction in the flow. By manipulating that fluid, he launched the concept of animal as opposed to mineral magnetism and claimed to cure all ills. This got him into trouble with the medical faculty, and in 1778 he emigrated to Paris, creating secret societies all over France. Six years later, mesmerism was considered a threat, possibly deleterious to both mind and body. Louis XVI appointed two commissions to investigate this likely fraud. Dr. Guillotin headed one; the other, made up of five members of the Academy of Sciences, included an astronomer and was headed by Franklin, American Ambassador to France. Both commissions concluded that the success of mesmerism was due to the manipulation of the imagination. Mesmer protested vigorously but in vain. He left France and died in obscurity in 1815.