Since antiquity, the question has been whether medicine is an art or a science. This work explores the question, in particular in view of Kant‹s, Fichte‹s and Schelling‹s influence on the self-conception of medicine. It traces the historical timelines which help to understand the current situation and provides important arguments for a timely self-conception of medicine which is indispensable for the discussion of scientific theory and ethics in today‹s medicine.