Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 57-59. (Budapest, 1971)
TANULMÁNYOK - Antall József: A pesti orvosi iskola kialakulása és a centralisták egészségügyi politikája (angol nyelven)
ent that the most profound work of the age in political science was written by Eötvös under the title "The Influence of the Dominant Ideas of the 19 th Century on the State", but Imre Madách, the author of the famous philosophical drama, "The Tragedy of Man", also belonged to their group. The formulation of the theory of social balance, the preaching of social reforms as the means to prevent outbursts were equally part of their political philosophy. They took under examination even the various socialistic-communistic schools, naturally rendering their criticism from the vantage point of liberalism. They professed the raising of the culture of and assuring the welfare of the people, with a view to the prevention of the revolutionary movements. 20 Eötvös was drawn into the field of social politics not only by his political philosphy but by his humanism too. His speeches on "Misery in Ireland",, on the penal code, and on the system of prisons, as well as his literary works,. show his keen interest in social problems. But his true "field" was cultural policy. 21 These are the two "pillars" we should start from when assessing the public health policy of Eötvös and the centralists, their role in the reform of medical training, in higher education, and in science-policy. It would be unnecessary to go into the details of their planned and undertaken reforms concerning medical training (in 1848, after the Compromise, and in 1875 respectively), of the large-scale constructions of university-buildings, of their role in establishing institutes and universities. The offices of Eötvös and Trefort holding the portfolio of Education, and the activities of Markusovszky, forming the link between the two, meant the setting down of the foundations of modern Hungarian medical education. 22 The question may be raised whether the centralists had a health policy already at the beginning of the 1840s? The answer can be only in the negative. At the time of the cholera epidemic of 1831 Eötvös is only meditating on the individual tragedies and on the defenselessness of man in his letter to Szalay. 2i Health policy and drawing up programs for public education already belongs to the category of "applied politics", which was formulated mainly by the experts and leading intellectuals gathering around them, Eötvös was famous 20 Antall J. : Eötvös József Politikai Hetilap-ja és a kiegyezés előkészítése. 1865— 1866. = Századok, 1965. 6. 1099-1130. 21 Antall J. : Eötvös József művelődéspolitikája és a Politikai Hetilap. = Magyar Pedagógiai Társaság tanulmánykötete. Bp., 1971. (S. a.) Antall J. : 100 esztendős a népiskolai törvény — Eötvös József és az 1868. évi népiskolai törvény országgyűlési vitája. = Magyar Pedagógia, 1968. 4. 414 — 433. 22 Antall, J. : The Emergence of the System of Modern Higher Education in Hungary. 1848-1890. = Comm. Hist. Artis Med. 51-53. (1969), 61-74. (Several articles in the volume have a bearing on the subject. — Tóth A.—Antall J. : A magyarországi felsőoktatás a reformkorban és 1848—49-ben. = Felsőoktatási Szemle, 1968. 7 — 8.415—423. — Antall J.—Ladányi A. : A magyarországi felsőoktatás az abszolutizmus és a dualizmus korában. = Felsőoktatási Szemle, 1968. 9. 536 — 456. 23 Eötvös József levele Szalay Lászlóhoz. Bécs, 1831. augusztus 2-án. — Nizsalovszky E.—Lukácsy L. : Eötvös József levelei Szalay Lászlóhoz. Bp., 1967. 42.
