I am currently doing a Coursera Massive Open Online Course on the topic: “On On Strategy: What Managers Can learn from Great Philosophers”. The course is presented by Prof. Luc de Brabandere of Ecole Centrale Paris. This was an assignment to link philosophers and scientists across time to show how an idea can exert an influence and in itself evolve over time.
This entry links philosophers: Plato, Aristotle, Thales, Anaximander, Sir Francis Bacon with physicians: Hippocrates, Galen, Paracelsus and scientists: Paracelsus and Sir Francis Bacon around the theme of human health and society.
Plato and Aristotle influenced the development of medical thought and the establishment of a new society. This treatise will show the common influence of Hippocrates on both Plato and Aristotle and the presocratic influences that influenced Hippocrates. Consequently I will illustrate the influence of Hippocrates on Galen the physician, defending Plato and Paracelsus, the physician and scientist, defending Aristotle until both are surpassed in methodological thinking by Sir Francis Bacon who initiated the scientific method and ultimately laid the foundations for a new world.
The Ionian philosophers in the sixth century BC changed how the human body was seen in an attempt to explain natural phenomena through rational reasoning. The philosopher Thales (585 BC) established a new way of reasoning, void of myth and based on observation which led to the conclusion that rules governing the natural world applied to the inner workings of the human body. Anaximander (550 BC) elaborated on the theory of Thales by introducing the notion of pairs of opposite elements as a means of change and diagnosing illness.
Hippocrates of Kos (460 –C. 370 BC), the physician, built on the theories of both Anaximander and Thales which explained the relationship between the world and man. Physicians who followed the Hippocratic method attributed chronic disease to the imbalance of one of four humours in the body. The fame of Hippocrates was such that he must have influenced Plato and Socrates greatly since both wrote about him with respect. Plato incorporated contemporary medical theory into the “Timaeus”.
It is the Platonic influence on Hippocratic thinking that impacted on Galen, the most distinguished physician of the Emperor of Rome. Ludwig Edelstein sums up his expert impression when he remarks on Galen saying that “Plato and Hippocrates were his gods; Aristotle he held in sincere respect.” Galen included summaries of the discourses of Plato in eight books and developed treatises in which he defended Platonic doctrine. Aristotle did not adopt the Platonic model of the human organism. When Galen refuted the Aristotelian Stoics’ and Peripatetics’ claims that the heart is the centre of consciousness by demonstrating publicly that the brain is the centre of consciousness, he felt that he vindicated the position of Plato and Hippocrates.
The Swiss physician Paracelsus (1493-1541) was one of the most influential medical scientists in early modern Europe. He changed his name to Paracelsus (equal to Celsus) to indicate that he wanted to rival ancient medical authorities such as Galen and Celsus. He rejected Galen’s claim that health and disease were controlled by the four humours and placed the focus on developing personal experience through experimentation. Being influenced by alchemy, Paracelsus saw the body as a chemical system which had to be balanced internally and which also had to be in harmony with its environment. When Paracelsus was appointed Professor of Medicine at the University of Basel he burned the books by Galen publically. Paracelsus believed in Aristotle’s concept of four elements and consequently pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine. Paracelsus’ search for a specific drug for every illness led him to study the effective matter of every material. Paracelsus tried to analyse and isolate effective elements that address illness. Paracelsus is acknowledged by many to be the father of modern medicine.
Paracelsus is credited with the first clinical/scientific mention of the term “unconscious”. Carl Gustav Jung, the psychologist, studied Paracelsus intensively and in his work “Mysterium Conjunctionis” he followed Paracelsus’ path using the symbolic language of alchemy to describe innate but unconscious psychological processes. Paracelsus founded the science of chemical pharmacology, divorced psychology from theology and demonology, and did pioneering work in the fields of occupational medicine and psychiatry.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was a leading figure in natural philosophy and in the field of scientific methodology in the period of transition from the Renaissance to the early Modern era. Bacon criticized Plato, Aristotle and Paracelsus by stating that Aristotle lacked a general theory of science and only gave occasional insights but did not command strategies to reproduce the natural effects under investigation. Bacon introduced a new systematic structure in “The advancement of learning” (1605). He dealt in his early text “Cogitata et Visa” with the scientific method which became famously known as “induction”. He repudiates the syllogistic method of Aristotle and later developed the method in further detail in “Novum Organum” (1620). One of the least mentioned attributes of Bacon’s philosophy is the concept of science as an impersonal and collaborative activity undertaken for the benefit of mankind. Sir Francis Bacon is considered by many as the father of the modern scientific method. Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence wrote: “Bacon, Locke and Newton. I consider them as the three greatest men that ever lived without any exception, and as having laid the foundation of those superstructures which have been raised in the physical and moral sciences. “
Summary:
The flow and inter-connectivity of ideas is clearly demonstrated in this treatise. Thales broke away from myth and Anaximander introduced pairs of opposites used by Hippocrates to develop the theory of four humours. Both Plato and Aristotle draw from Hippocrates in defining a view of man. Galen defends Hippocrates and Plato proving that the brain is the centre of Consciousness. Paracelsus uses Aristotle’s view to attack Gallen and to justify using chemicals in the healing process. Francis Bacon attacked Paracelsus, Plato and Aristotle in terms of defining a scientific method based on induction. He consequently laid down a foundation for Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States.
Sources:
1) Borzelleca J.F., 1999, Paracelsus: Herald of Modern Toxicology, Oxford Journals, Volume 53, Issue 1.
2) Cintas, P. 2003, Francis Bacon: An alchemical odyssey through the Novum Organum, University of Extremadura, Spain, Bull. Hist. Chem. Volume 28, Number 2.
3) Crane, 1995, The presocratic influence upon Hippocratic Medicine
4) Medicina Antiqua, Hippocrates: The “Greek Miracle” in Medicine.
5) Steiner, L.H. 1853, Paracelsus and his influence on Chemistry and Medicine, M. Kieffer & Co.
6) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, rev 2012, Francis Bacon
7) Theodore, J. and Tracy, S.J., Illinois Classical Studies I, Plato, Galen, and the Center of Consciousness
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