In Search Of The Modern Hippocrates

The Virtuous Physician: A Brief Medical History of Moral Inquiry from Hippocrates to COVID-19 traces the origin and development of practical moral inquiry as viewed through a lens of medical history. The cornerstone of the book is a translation of, and commentary on, the second century BC pseudo-Hippocratic Greek text, Precepts, a work not translated into English since 1921, which introduces the idea of the ‘virtuous physician’, and the ‘art’ of medicine. Preceptsdescribes the ideal way of being of the physician, and a pragmatic, very modern code of ethics. Through the examination of other early texts the book locates the physician as a seminal figure in ancient society, first with religious significance, and later with increasingly philosophico-intellectual meaning, the physical embodiment of the search for moral-pragmatic professional standardization. This inquiry is put to the test as applied to the existential threat and crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new, updated translation of Precepts makes the book interesting to classicists; and the detailed discussion of the cross-cultural influences between East and West in the Ancient World, especially of the influence of the Ancient Near East on Greek and Roman thought, to historians. It provides an outline of the history of the field for bioethicists and biomedical ethicists, and a seminal reference piece for physicians, from which to ground their own daily decision-making. It can be seen as a more valuable guide than the Hippocratic Oath, in this regard.

Extracts relevant pieces from the many disparate treatises of the Hippocratic Corpus and then groups them under eight main headings, providing a systematic structure lacking in the original.

For many centuries in ancient history, people believed illnesses were handed down by the gods. In the fifth century BCE, a Greek physician named Hippocrates changed that attitude. He began looking for natural causes of illnesses. Many of his treatment methods seem primitive. For example, he performed brain surgery by drilling into a patient s skull with a sharp piece of wood. There were no anesthetics. It was a very painful procedure. >In other ways his methods have held up surprisingly well. Like modern doctors, Hippocrates emphasized the value of a good diet and plenty of exercise. He also used maggots, leeches, and bees to treat his patients. All three of these creatures are still being used by doctors even in the United States. >Because of his efforts, today Hippocrates is known as the Father of Medicine.

The reader is given a concept of the life and times when Hippocrates lived. The professions and trades during Hippocrates time are described as well as the early education of youth in ancient Greece. Medicines were not based on science but on driving evil spirits from the body. Hippocrates' scientific approach to the study and treatment of disease has deservedly earned for him the title 'Father of Medicine". He was born on the island of Cos in 460 B.C., and his works remained for centuries the foundation of medical and biographical knowledge. In addition, it was Hippocrates' daring approach to the problems of sickness and disease that drove the opening wedge into the wall of fear that surrounded human ills. Hippocrates' scrupulous attention to professional ethics is honored even to this day by the medical oath that bears his name-'The Hippocratic Oath". 'Desperate diseases need desperate remedies". 'One man's meat is another man's poison"-these well known sayings by Hippocrates were a direct attack on human suffering. Hippocrates also wrote books on epidemics and stressed the importance of diet in combating them.

"Aclear-sighted, heartfelt, and humane story of the needless tests and treatments that cripple healthcare....as a guide to good medicine, it may help us get back to the essence of what good doctors do: be with patients in healing." —Samuel Shem, M.D., author of The House of God and The Spirit of the Place In Hippocrates’ Shadow, Dr. David H. Newman upends our understanding of the doctor-patient relationship and offers a new paradigm of honesty and communication. He sees a disregard for the healing power of the bond that originated with Hippocrates, and, ultimately, a disconnect between doctors and their oath to"do no harm." Exposing the patterns of secrecy and habit in modern medicine’s carefully protected subculture, Dr. Newman argues that doctors and patients cling to tradition and yield to demands for pills or tests. Citing fascinating studies that show why antibiotics for sore throats are almost always unnecessary; how cough syrup is rarely more effective than a sugar pill; and why CPR is violent, invasive—and almost always futile, this thought-provoking book cuts to the heart of what really works, and what doesn’t, in medicine.

This book is available as open access through the Knowledge Unlatched programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. We need to talk about Hippocrates. Current scholarship attributes none of the works of the 'Hippocratic corpus' to him, and the ancient biographical traditions of his life are not only late, but also written for their own promotional purposes. Yet Hippocrates features powerfully in our assumptions about ancient medicine, and our beliefs about what medicine – and the physician himself – should be. In both orthodox and alternative medicine, he continues to be a model to be emulated. This book will challenge widespread assumptions about Hippocrates (and, in the process, about the history of medicine in ancient Greece and beyond) and will also explore the creation of modern myths about the ancient world. Why do we continue to use Hippocrates, and how are new myths constructed around his name? How do news stories and the internet contribute to our picture of him? And what can this tell us about wider popular engagements with the classical world today, in memes, 'quotes' and online?

This short work examines what the Hippocratic Oath said to Greek physicians 2400 years ago and reflects on its relevance to medical ethics today. Drawing on the writings of ancient physicians, Greek playwrights, and modern scholars, each chapter explores one passage of the Oath and concludes with a modern case discussion. This book is for anyone who loves medicine and is concerned about the ethics and history of the profession.