The Great Ideas of Philosophy by Daniel Robinson | Chapter 11: Hippocrates and the Science of Life

[DC]

Chapter 11: Hippocrates and the Science of Life

Scope: One of the signal achievements of the classical world of the Greeks was the naturalization of what had long been absorbed into mysticism, superstition, and magic. The perspective of the natural scientist is nowhere more evident, however, than in the commonsense approach of the Greek medical writers and practitioners whose teachings come down to us in the form of “Hippocratic” treatises. In other societies of the ancient world, medicine was regarded as a part of religion; even among the mass of Greeks, most consulted oracles and believed that disease was visited on the body by the gods in punishment for wrong done (the Christian era would take up this view again). But the Hippocratic empirikoi, or empirical practitioners, believed no disease was more divine than another; observation and clinical practice were of the essence; and health was a matter of balance, diet, and the right kind of life.

Link to Chapter 11 audio file: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B37rZ...

Noted recommended reading:
*Hippocrates. “On the Wounds of the Head,” in Hippocrates, W. Jones, trans. Putnam, 1923.
*Lloyd, G., ed. Hippocratic Writings. Penguin, 1978.

Questions to Consider:
1. The Hippocratic physicians were successful, though they distinguished their efforts from those of magicians, sorcerers, and even philosophers. Summarize what their success says about the general attitudes prevailing in Athens circa 430–330 B.C.
2. Explain what the place of philosophy and religion should be in a therapeutic setting that is intended to be “holistic.”