Thesis ID: CBB001561593

Of Science, Skepticism and Sophistry: The Pseudo-Hippocratic “On the Art” in Its Philosophical Context (2005)

unapi

Mann, Joel Eryn (Author)


University of Texas at Austin
Hankinson, Robert J.
Dean-Jones, Lesley


Publication Date: 2005
Edition Details: Advisor: Hankinson, Robert J.; Lesley Dean-Jones
Physical Details: 347 pp.
Language: English

Students of Greek thought will be familiar with the concept of [Special characters omitted.] and the pivotal role it plays in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. The nature of [Special characters omitted.] and what pursuits count as [Special characters omitted.] became important questions. With this fresh translation and commentary on the pseudo-Hippocratic and unrepentantly sophistic treatise On the Art , I hope to show not only that the debate over [Special characters omitted.] predated Plato and Aristotle but also that the terms of the debate were somewhat different. Certain works in the Hippocratic Corpus evince a concern over the charge, evidently in circulation among the Greeks, that medicine "is not" ( On the Art, Ancient Medicine, Regimen in Acute Diseases ). Many medical writers focus on refuting or deflecting the accusation that medicine's apparent successes are the work of mere chance ( On the Art, Ancient Medicine , and perhaps Diseases I ) or that physicians can't know anything about the internal processes of the body since they are not open to inspection ( On the Art, Ancient Medicine , and perhaps Nature of Man ). These are the main problems that occupy the author of On the Art , and I discuss them at some length in my commentary. On my reading, the ancient attack on medicine's theories of the unobservable amounted to an anti-realist critique of Greek medical theory, and against this On the Art represents the earliest defense of scientific realism in the history of philosophy. For our author, the task of the medical [Special characters omitted.] is to discover [Special characters omitted.] , or necessary connections, in nature. This amounts to discovering the [Special characters omitted.] , or forms, of nature, which is to say natural kinds and their essences. In addition, he embraces a causal theory of reference for natural kind terms. Like some modern defenders of scientific realism, our author believes he can leverage essentialism and a causal theory of language to topple his "anti-realist" critics.

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Description Cited in Diss. Abstr. Int. A 66/08 (2006): 2956. UMI pub. no. 3185714.


Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001561593/

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Authors & Contributors
Maieron, Mario Augusto
Giaretta, Pierdaniele
Di Piazza, Salvatore
Jon Bornholdt
Marmodoro, Anna
Letts, Melinda
Concepts
Medicine
Philosophy of medicine
Philosophy
Epistemology
Hippocratic medicine
Disease and diseases
Time Periods
Ancient
Medieval
21st century
Places
Greece
Rome (Italy)
Mesopotamia
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