An Analysis Of Hippocratic Medical Thought

The medical thought of Hippocrates,father of western medicine had changed the concept and methods of doctors treating patients at that time and later in nearly one thousand years of history.Ancient Greek medicine established the western medical tradition of attaching great importance to experimental and clinical medicine,the ancient Greek doctor Hippocrates had used his great wisdom to create the achievement that makes later generations admire.The core of Hippocratic medical thought can be summarized as rational medical thought and medical ethics thought,this paper takes Hippocratic corpus as research material,Hippocratic medical thought as research object,the content is divided into three parts.The first chapter examines the background of the emergence of ancient Greek medicine and introduces the life of Hippocrates.Ancient Greek medicine originated from the instinct of human beings to fight against diseases and pursue health,from the accumulation of long-term production and life experience,and from absorbing the advanced medical knowledge of surrounding nationalities in the commercial exchanges,and exerted a positive influence on the further development of medical science.Later records of Hippocrates’ life are often mixed with historical facts and legends,anyway they reflect the way ancient people traced the great doctor.The second chapter studies the Hippocratic rational medical thought,rational medical thought profoundly influenced by the philosophical thoughts.Pythagorean number theory,Alcmaeon’s equilibrium theory and Empedocles’ four elements theory laid theoretical foundation for the Hippocratic medical theory.Despite considerable heterogeneity,Hippocratic doctors without exception all held the view that diseases came from natural factors which was different from the popular idea that diseases came from divinity.But that doesn’t mean they are atheists,rational medicine and the cults of Asclepius almost sprang up and coexisted at the same time.The third chapter studies the Hippocratic medical ethics thought.That the ancient Greek doctors had excessive freedom made the doctor group uneven.There appeared a lot of unqualified doctors on virtue which harmed the interests of the citizens.The doctor’s image was deteriorating,the doctor-patient relationship was bad.Therefore making a criterion of ethics is very important for medical treating.To help or at least not hurt and regard patients alike were Hippocratic connotation of medical ethics thoughts.