Ancient Greece’s Influence on Modern Medicine Greece, birthplace to many of the world’s greatest philosophers, inventors, and scientists, has influenced civilization throughout time. Of these abundant influences none holds more weight than those on the field of medicine. Ancient Greece, known as the birthplace of medicine, has greatly influenced modern medicine through countless ways. These ways range from medical ethics that keep medicine unbiased and uncorrupt, information on the human body that has broadened the fields of medicine immensely, and treatments and practices that have made the world of modern medicine a safer place for patients. Ethics, the study of whether something is right or wrong, is of great importance in the field of …show more content…
One of the most prominent philosophers responsible for this knowledge is Alcmaeon of Croton. Alcmaeon was the first known philosopher to attribute the brain to being the seat of human intelligence, and that similar to Hippocrates, physicians should base their findings off of “empirical evidence” and not “divine intervention” ( Celesia 409 ). This radical concept, for his time, has become such an important milestone in history, because through the continuos study of the human mind we now have fields such as neurology and psychology. Through these fields modern physicians have been able to discover countless ways to treat and learn about the human bodies ' nervous system; These include horrible diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, amnesia, and dementia. Another benefit along with being able to study these diseases and disorders is that before they were understood many people with neurological disorders were seen as insane, broken, or even possessed, and because of this would not be given treatment for their serious conditions. Alcmaeon not only introduced the world to his revolutionary ideas on the human mind, but also to the world of anatomy. Through his studies with the human body he also is the first accredited with the use of dissecting animals for the purpose of discovering the connection our senses had to the brain ( …show more content…
Even in our day and age physicians still employ the treatments and methods that were developed by the ancient Greeks over two-thousand years ago. The most prominent treatments that are used today would be those in the field of traumatology, a branch of surgery that deals with serious wounds caused by accidents or violence. Hippocrates, the forefather of this field, began the development of this medical branch when he had decided to document his methods and medical discoveries into “approximately 60 “Hippocratic” treaties” (Pikoulis 426). These treaties, known today as Hippocratic corpus, are documents containing various detailed information about the human body, and various ways developed to treat the injuries encountered by physicians of the classical era. Within the Hippocratic Corpus the most heavily studied was On Head Wounds which was the first document linking “giddiness and loss of consciousness to brain damage...[and]injury to the left temple region causes spasms on the right side of the body and vice versa” (Pikoulis 426). This section has held great importance to modern, because injuries to the head, and more importantly the brain, are nearly impossible to detect and most lethal is left untreated. Even someone who has received what they think was a light hit to their head, could die hours later from unseen intracranial
In modern medicine when an ailment arises it can be quickly diagnosed, attributed to a precise bacteria, virus, or body system, and treated with medication, surgery or therapy. During the time before rational medical thought, this streamlined system of treatment was unheard of, and all complaints were attributed to the will of the multitude of commonly worshiped Greek gods (Greek Medicine 1). It was during the period of Greek rationalism that a perceptible change in thought was manifested in the attitudes towards treating disease. Ancient Greece is often associated with its many brilliant philosophers, and these great thinkers were some of the first innovators to make major developments in astrology, physics, math and even medicine. Among these academics was Hippocrates, one of the first e...
Hippocrates (c. 460-377 BC) was born on the Aegean island of Cos, Greece. He learned his medical practices from his father, Heracleides, and Ancient Greek physician Herodicos of Selymbria. Like many big Greek names of the time, Hippocrates was thought to have come from the Gods. He was considered a descendent of Asclepios, the God of Medicine. Two major creations of Hippocrates have upheld the biggest influence on medical history. The peak of his career was during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C), where his healing tactics helped Athenian warriors (“Hippocrates”, 1998).
Ethics is an important proponent when considering any decision. Knowing the difference between right and wrong is something everyone should know. However, the importance of ethics gets minimized when a decision that seems wrong actually has benefits. In the efforts of improving society, often ethics is violated. Sometimes in order for society to be better off as a whole, there has to be little sacrificing of ethical practices along the way to do so.
Twenty four centuries ago, Hippocrates created the profession of medicine, for the first time in human history separating and refining the art of healing from primitive superstitions and religious rituals. His famous Oath forged medicine into what the Greeks called a technik, a craft requiring the entire person of the craftsman, an art that, according to Socrates in his dialogue Gorgias, involved virtue in the soul and spirit as well as the hands and brain. Yet Hippocrates made medicine more than a craft; he infused it with an intrinsic moral quality, creating a “union of medical skill and the integrity of the person [physician]” (Cameron, 2001).
What is ethics? Ethics are the philosophical principles of good verses bad moral behavior. It is a guideline to help people make decisions or make a judgment calls. There are two main types of ethical principles that will be discussed in this paper, and how they are applied to the decision making process. They are Deontological and Utilitarian. Deontological ethics are based on the righteousness or wrongness of the action-taking place. It does not base itself on the bad or good consequences that come from the action. Immanuel Kant introduced deontological ethics in the 18th century. Kant believed that every decision or action made by a person had to be evaluated by his or her moral duty. He stated that humanity shouldn’t side on its
...iments opened the flood gates for anatomical and physiological observation. And his observations in regards to blood were so close to uncovering the true nature of circulation that William Harvey wondered how Galen himself did not arrive at the conclusion (Klein, 2009). Galen set an important foundation for future physicians.
Hippocrates' work was a breakthrough in medicinal history. He set an example of the ideal physician after which others, centuries after him, copy their existence. It was said by Celsus that "Hippocrates fist gave the physician an independent standing, separating him from the cosmological speculator, or nature philosopher.
Unlike today, the Ancient Roman doctors received no respect, because they were considered to be fraudilant. This reputation was caused by the doctors magical tricks, and the lack of useful treatments. The job required minimal training, as they only had to apprentice with their senior. Thus, many free slaves and people who had failed at everything else filled this profession. Some did try to find new remedies; however, others used medicine to con people. Public surgeries were done to attract audiences as an advertisement. Doctors would even become beauticians providing perfumes, cosmetics, and even hairdressing. When wives wanted their husbands gone, they would say, ¡§put the patient out of his misery¡¨ and the doctors would be the murderers. However, as wars began to break out, there were improvements bec...
Ethics plays a very important role in one social system and basically on how the people will make their actions or decide on a particular thing on whether it is the right or the wrong thing. Ethical consideration is very important. It helps a person or a group of person understands whether the actions are right or wrong. Ethics is a very critical factor most especially when considering where the ethical standards are to applied. Aside from it, weighing results of actions or decision is also another major concern because of the fact that a person has critically analyze whose side is needed to satisfied. There are instances that moral obligations are also considered, in which moral is defined as a universal accepted personal human behavior that allows a person to decide whether an action or decision is good or bad.
While it is easy to stand back and scorn the subjectivity of the ancient Greeks’ medical practices and laugh at their notions of human anatomy, it is important to recognize that all “science” has a degree of cultural influence. It is true that their sweet and sour pessaries, cures of sex, and anatomical understanding that was based on “Love” would be ridiculous in the modern western society, but rather than view their methods as “bad science,” we can use them as a rich source for discovering cultural values. Love was at the center of their science of healing, and this shows us that it was not an isolated phenomenon in Greek society, but enveloped all aspects of life – spiritual, emotional and physical.
Early Greek medicine was more of a divine matter. It was believed that the God Asclepius was the god of medicine. Priests would live at his temples and claimed they knew the ways of healing people. It was not until around 500 B.C., a Greek physician named Alcmaeon began to dissect animals to observe their skeleton, muscles, and brain. This was most probably the first ever to describe a phenomenon through objective observations. Through his observations, he believed that illness was due to an imbalance in the body. This idea prevailed for many centuries in the history of medicine.
As he arrived in 219 BCE he was credited with introducing Greek medical practices to the Romans He specialized in healing battle wounds, which had gave him a reputation for solving skin problems. Despite the fact that Greek doctors criticism, Greeks were able to bring their knowledge of the 5-4th century BCE classic division of medical treatment into three divisions of diet, regimen and surgery. Also, the Greeks brought Alexandria where practitioners were astounding increasing their knowledge of the human body through dissections of condemned animals. Similarly as Galen’s work of dissecting animals. Galen's influence was so immense even after Western Europeans started making dissections in the thirteenth century, scholars often turned to findings into the Galenic model that otherwise might have thrown Galen's model into
Hippocrates was a Greek physician that left a legacy that existed during his lifetime in Classical Greece and continues today. His moral and ethical standards were the foundation of his teachings, along with his meticulous writings concerning the study of the human body. He firmly believed that poor health and disease were the result of a natural process that could be discovered and cured through careful clinical reasoning and observations. Hippocrates travelled throughout Greece teaching and describing disease symptoms, and taught doctors how to analyze and treat specific illnesses or diseases. Hippocrates’s accomplishments give him the respect from doctors and medical professionals around the world that continues even today.
At the time, most healers directly associated medicine with philosophy. Because of this, superstition played a big role in the medical field, with both good and bad occurrences being attributed to the will of the gods. When Hippocrates proposed that this may not be the case at all, it split the Greek medical community in two. While his theory did prove to be correct in the sense that natural causes are often the reason for disease, a fair amount of the anatomy and physiology that Hippocrates referenced has been deemed incorrect by modern
Ethics are moral principles or values that govern the conduct of an individual or a group.It is not a burden to bear, but a prudent and effective guide which furthers life and success. Ethics are important not only in business but in academics and society as well because it is an essential part of the foundation on which a civilized society is built.