English Issue 39-40/2026

“Standing on the Abyss” is the title of the International Annual Conference of the Medical Section. What does it mean to stand “on” an abyss rather than at the edge of one? It means that the abyss is not looming menacingly ahead of us, but stretches out beneath us as if we were an acrobat or tightrope walker. “You higher-minded people, your worst fault is this: none of you have learned to dance as one ought to dance,” writes Friedrich Nietzsche. If the abyss truly stretches out beneath us, then the dance becomes a tightrope walk, and every step is a balancing act. It is no longer a matter of seeking solid ground, but of remaining suspended in the air. That is what resilience means today.