Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 46-47. (Budapest, 1968)

TANULMÁNYOK - Antall József: A család és az iskola szerepe Semmelweis személyiségének kialakulásában (Német nyelven)

and Skoda. The pathologico-anatomical trend, the use of the differential diagnostical method and the conclusive force of statistical data respectively became the parts of Semmelweis' way of thinking and scientific methods in Vienna, there is no doubt about it. But this ensued not by compensating for the bad Hungarian school, but by forming a young newcomer in Vienna, who had been accustomed to thinking, had Hungarian schooling not inferior to many other schools, into a specialist. Without confusing general philosophical questions, the rules of logic with the peculiarities of medical thinking, some lines of Purgstaller, the onetime teacher of Semmelweis, referring to disjunctice syllogisms worth quoting: "the main law is'if one of the contrasted concepts is right, the others are wrong, and if the others are wrong, one must be right.' This is based upon the principle of exclusion." And under demonstrations he writes: "The demonstration is flanking, or absurdifying—deductio ad absurdum—if our formula is deduced from the incorrectness of the opposite statement." In his book he writes about the role of experiments, about discoveries and about many other questions that might have emerged in his teching even before writing his book. After all it was he who wrote about educating in order to teach how to think: "As for education, it should be: intelligible, conclusive, and systematic ... The sensible educator does not recite the items of science like repeating for a parrot, but interprets and expounds them from many a sides. It is undeniable that he cannot achieve durable convictions about truth with inconclusive tuition. Lastly, if his teaching is not systematic, but muddling, the students will get accustomed to confused thinking. They need not swear by their teacher's words, but should examine the disclosed subjects and should meditate on them : thus they shall not only cultivate their memory, but bring their intellect to life, which is one of the main objects of tuition. Scientific learning is regulated by the following things: the right evaluation of the parts, the grasping of the whole, the investigation of the causes and the expounding of the results." In conclusion: we do not contest the German descent of the family of Semmelweis for a moment, we have only proved their long history in Hungary, we have only shown that he taught and was taught in his mother country, it was there that he pursued his scientific activity, he considered Hungary as his native land. We do not deny the influence of the second Viennese school on the road to his discovery, we only acknowledge—emphasizing the priority of his merits — the merits of his Hungarian school, those of many excellent Hungarian teachers in laying the foundations of his way of thinking which became fit for scientific work. The more so, as he completed his elementary, secondary, and philosophical (preparatory) education exclusively in Hungary, as well as the second and third years of his medical training. Both Vienna and Budapest have their roles in the life of Semmelweis, which should be acknowledged without prejudice, by mutually and sincerely accepting the truth.