ABSTRACT
The relation between science, myth and medicine is essential and complex; it depends on the meaning of these concepts as well as on the economic, political, social and cultural changes of our century. The idea of a sequence of myth, religion, philosophy and science in the course of history is common. In order to understand the uniqueness or the particularity of the topic “science, myth and medicine”, it is necessary to draw a comparison with the times which preceeded Nuremberg. Nuremberg marks the end of an epoch and the beginning of a new one at the same time, not only for culture and the political world, but also for ethics in general and for ethics in the natural sciences and medicine especially. The idea of the prolongation of life stands between myth and science and dominates medicine as well as the population and public life.
