Somatology

The term somatology goes back to Ernst Gottfried Baldinger ( 1762). It defines the somatology here as part of natural philosophy.

Emergence of the concept

The original definition of Ernst Gottfried Baldinger ( 1762) reads as follows:. " The doctrine of bodies or basic science ( somatology ) Expound the necessaries properties of the body, in so far those from the general concept of the body can be detected contains the first and highest principles of human knowledge, of what a body and what sey sey possible through the body. " ( Quoted in )

1779 differs Wilhelm Traugott Krug anthropological somatology as a general knowledge of the human body from the medical somatology as detailed knowledge of body parts and functions with regard to the treatment and prevention as the basis of medical sciences. The somatology as such he assigns the " rational sciences " to.

Term use in the presence

Nowadays somatology referred (syn. body theory - from the Latin Somat (os) = body, logos = doctrine ) a branch of anthropology that deals with the doctrine of the human body.

Since the anthropology includes not only scientific but also theological, cultural, sociological, educational and philosophical aspects, the term can not be used interchangeably with scientific disciplines like medicine and human biology. The anthropology discussed, for example, in " biological " context comparisons physical constitution of man and of his behavior and the influence of the environment on genetic predisposition as well as the evolution of man.

Also, the term is used today in the literature as a direct translation (the study of the body).