The contributions gathered in this volume endeavour to evaluate the role played by medical empiricism in the emergence of a philosophy of human nature in the 17th century and the role played by philosophical anthropology in the 18th century. Divided into three parts, "1. The Dispute between Metaphysics and Empiricism," "2. Arts of Empirical Research," and "3. Relevance of Case Studies," the volume questions the position of medicine within so-called "natural philosophy," which encompasses physiology and anatomy, as well as physics, astronomy and chemistry. One of its aims is to understand the...