The origin of rational medicine in Ancient Greece the VI - IV centuries BC

In this article the author explores in detail the history of ancient medicine as one of the stages on a common way of natural Sciences to the scientific revolution of the XVII century. Analyzing an array of sources, the author formulates the thesis that historians of science have to analyze the theory and practice of doctors-natural philosophers in the search for a point of reference rational approach to the understanding of General pathology and principles of treatment of diseases. This is important, because in the body of literature devoted to the history of science, recognizes the importance of the role it is medicine for over from the VI century B.C. till III century, as the most dynamically developing science specialty. In this regard, modern historians of science are obliged to put the question of rational scientific thinking on various stages of the development of natural Sciences. What does It give to the modern researcher? First of all, it allows to take into account the increasing role of interdisciplinary analysis methods, especially necessary when analyzing science until the XVII century, especially antiquity. In the VI - IV centuries B.C., so called «before Hippocrates medicine», mathematics, physics only originate in the bosom of natural philosophy, as a General system of discipline, equivalent at that time the notion of natural history. Difficulties in the application of interdisciplinary approach, coupled with the lack of sources and are the reason, according to the author, of this unresolved issue in the scientific literature. Detail of the opinion prevailing in modern Russian and foreign historiography in the article concludes that this question comes into conflict with the established trend of linking rational thinking with the scientific revolution of the XVIIth century. The scientific revolution seems to many historians of science simultaneously and the product of such thinking and impetus to its further development. This is undoubtedly true, especially when we consider the fact that most of the natural Sciences have emerged as a result of this scientific revolution. However, when considering the development pre-scientific knowledge and antique natural philosophy and medicine is what they are -this opinion is becoming a methodological trap. Without bringing in the notion of «rationality» we cannot denote the formation of research of natural science, separating it from the magical practices of the temple of medicine, mathematical occult followers of Pythagoras, etc. Of course, that in the framework of the scientific article it is not possible to examine in details the impact of each of natural philosophy schools on the practice of natural history. However, on the example of analysis of formation medicine, as the most dynamically developing natural science discipline, the author formulates the following conclusions: first, in the VI-IV centuries B.C. was the origin of rationalism in approaches to cognition of nature and man; secondly, the practice of natural Sciences (for example medicine) there is a direct influence of the main natural philosophy schools; thirdly, the history of medicine confirms earlier conclusions historians of philosophy about the crisis of the knowledge of the IV century, reasonably puts on the agenda the question of a rational reform in natural philosophy, decided later in Socrates, Plato and Hippocrates works; fourth, in the medicine before Hippocrates there is no dominant empirically-based system of scientific views.

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