Goals of Hippocrates
Hippocratic Oath
Hippocrates had several goals which he wished to spread. Being a physician, his primary goal of course, was to heal as many people as possible and set up a system of medicine in which others could do the same. To do this he had a set of goals he wished to achieve which included spreading his doctrine and finding ways that medicine could be improved upon.
The Goals
- To remove the view that gods and superstition were synonymous with a persons health- He believed that all diseases came from natural causesThis shows the shift in values that was occurring all throughout that time period among the the educated, that gods were not the source of everything. This theme can also be seen in Plato and Aristotle's works which show that they viewed the gods merely as creators not as runners of the universe.
- To promote the views of the Koans- The koans believed that the best way to treat a disease was to make a general diagnosis and then attempt to help the body heal itself. This was contrary to the knidians who made specific diagnoses where each system was a separate disease and used aggressive treatment. This goal shows that within the Greek city states there were many intellectual differences just like the one between Plato and Aristotle.
- To set a universal code of conduct for all doctors to follow- This code of conduct certainly took some of his ideas but was probably not actually written by him but by one of his students. It has come to be called the Hippocratic Oath and to this day doctors have to say a version of it before they can graduate medical school. The original text of the code is below.
To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parent and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art—if they desire to learn it—without fee and covenant; to give share of precepts and oral instruction and all other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but to no one else.
I will apply dietetic measure for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and in holiness I will guard my life and my art.
I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work.
Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves.
What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself holding such things shameful to be spoken about.
If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite be my lot."
—Translated by Ludwig Edelstein
This code shows some of the most important values to the Greeks as well as some of Hippocrates unique values. The Greek values that are prominent in this code are the powerful wording about doctor assisted suicide and abortion. At this point in Athens such things would have been experimented with and were strongly opposed. Another Greek value that shows through is the value of the family business. This shows up in the line about sons of physicians getting preferential treatment to people without family in the business. This line also does not mention women showing Greece's complete disregard for them.
Hippocrates own values can be seen in the phrase about cleanliness which was one of his most important contributions to medicine. Another of his own values can be seen in the phrase about doing no harm. The knidians were seen as often doing harm with their intrusive cures for diseases and he would have wanted to protect that. It is clear that his own values had an influence on other Greeks. This can be seen from the fact that cleanliness became the norm for doctors. Also if someone else wrote this oath they were obviously influenced enough to add his ideas to it.
- To further human knowledge into the nature of human anatomy and diseases in order to better treat them. In the time of Hippocrates very little was know about human anatomy due largely to the fact that the Greek's respect for dead bodies had led them to outlaw human dissections. Hippocrates therefore had to try and achieve this goal using his own value on record keeping of diseases. From his studies he was able to draw several important conclusions, but his most major conclusions about human anatomy were false.
Activity- take a sheet of paper and write down all of the values you see in the Hippocratic Oath. Make two columns and divide them into values of Hippocrates and values from the Greek culture.