Consulto medico e consulto morale: Kant, Maria von Herbert e il male del corpo e dell'anima [Medical and moral consultation: Kant, Maria von Herbert and the illness of body and soul]

The article analyses the epistolary exchange between Maria von Herbert and Immanuel Kant, contextualising it within 18th-century medical consultation practices. To achieve this, the fundamental characteristics of modern medical consultation will firstly be delineated by examining the motivations behind consultation requests, which often originated with the patients themselves, and the nature of the expert opinions provided by consulting physicians, who were frequently renowned figures in their field. Secondly, Kant’s role as a consultant and moral physician is emphasised through an analysis of his advice to Maria von Herbert. In this advice, he proposes a solution that both upholds reason and centralises the body within philosophical discourse. In conclusion, the study demonstrates how the established practice of medical consultation in the modern era paved the way for contemporary philosophical consultative practices.