The Relation of Philosophy and Medicine in Ancient Greece

The purpose of this paper is to deal with two questions concerning the relation of philosophy and medicine in ancient greece　 (1) Which influences had philosophy on medicine? (2) Whom did attack the author of On the ancient medicine? And (3) was his criticism right? (1) Philosophy’s influences was twofold　 (a) As early Greek philosophers had explained natural phenomena by natural elements without recourse to any supernatural god　 so authors of Hippocratic Works also had sought to explain diseases　 They had replaced magical and religious medicine with rational medicine by virtue of rational explanation　 This seems to have represented medicine’s debt to philosophy　 (b) Many medical authors primarily had studied the nature of human　 i　e　 the basic constituents of the body　 since they had thought the very same to be causes of diseases　 This aspect shows the conspicuous influence of philosophy　 Because it was the nature of cosmos　 i　e　 the source or basic constituent that early Greek philosophers had searched to explain cosmos and all natural phenomena in it　 (2) On the other hand the author of On the ancient medicine attacks physicians that are influenced by cosmology of early Greek philosophers　 The point of his criticism in Chapter 1 is that ‘philosophical physicians’ postulate one or two constituents of the body as the primary cause of men’s diseases　 Then are physicians that postulate various constituents free from the author’s criticism? At least according to Chapter 20 it is not so　 He seems to criticize physicians in general who proceed by the hypothetical method　 He contrasts this method with the method of trial and error　 and asserts that this is of medicine　 but that is of philosophy　 (3) Although this methodological separation was right in a sense　 at least the opinion of the author seems to be extreme　 Because medicine can’t be science　 if it does not make use of any hypothesis　 And philosophical physicians or early Greek philosophers does not seems to be such dogmatic as the author thinks　 First of all　 they did not exclude the method of experience　 Their method was both empirical and speculative　 They postulated some constituents by speculation based on experience　 and had a device to avoid danger of dogmatism that their theory might have　 It is critical thinking　 It’s obvious evidence is their various thinking concerning the basic constituents　 The same is applied to philosophical physicians　 Thus the harmonious relation of medicine and philosophy had seemed to be maintained in antiquity　 even though the author of On the ancient medicine atta