Forum Philosophicum

Volume 12, Issue 2, Autumn 2007

Reception of Some Aspects of the Hippocratic Medical Ethics in Antiquity

The Hellenic medical ideas have found appreciation among people over centuries. Though the initial concept remained the same, methods or ways to achieve desired aims have changed. Since Hippocrates, new generations of physicians have worked hard to find more powerful types of therapies to relieve their patients and make treatment less burdensome. The struggle of medicine is very specific and requires, apart from practical skills, a clear personal commitment to help people wisely. From the Early Antiquity, both medicine and medical ethics go together. Wherever Hippocratic medicine is practiced, an appropriate moral pattern accompanies it because the Hellenic doctor offered purely clinical data and his art should not be separated from anthropology, ethics and religion.