Medicine and philosophy - Classical Homeopathy Online

Aristotle on sleep and dreams 193opposed to a non-expert, theoretical approach, that is, between knowledgebeing pursued with a view to its use or application in a particular case, andknowledge being pursued for its own sake. 34 The verb philosophein doesnot have the narrow meaning of ‘practising philosophy’; it rather means ‘beinterested in, want to know, study’, 35 and as such it seems almost equivalentto the verb skopeisthai (‘inquire’) in the same context. 36 Philosophounteshere denotes people with a theoretical and a more general, non-specialisedinterest.The view mentioned here is attributed to ‘the distinguished among physicians’(charientes tōn iatrōn). This expression calls for some explanation. 37Charieis basically means ‘pleasing, charming, appealing to someone’s taste’,but the word is frequently used to refer to an intrinsic quality in virtueof which someone is pleasing: hence we may consider translations such as‘elegant, refined, sophisticated, cultivated, civilised, liberal-minded’. Perhaps‘distinguished’ covers both aspects most appropriately. In Aristotle’sworks, we sometimes find the expression hoi charientes, 38 which denotes agroup of people who are distinguished from hoi polloi (‘the crowd’) and hoiphortikōtatoi (‘the vulgar’ or ‘the mean’). 39 There are also instances wherethe word seems to refer to intellectual qualities such as cleverness and skilfulness.40 The question is, therefore, in what sense the doctors mentionedhere are ‘distinguished’ from other doctors.The point of this reference to medical writers and the terminology inwhich it is cast become clearer from a comparison with two other passagesfrom the Parva naturalia, namely from the treatises On Sense Perception andPerceptible Objects and On Respiration:34 Cf. the distinction between epistēmē and technē in Metaph. 981 b 14–982 a 3 and between practicaland theoretical sciences in Eth. Nic. 1139 b 19–1140 a 24. Strictly speaking, medicine counts as a‘productive art’ (poiētikē technē), since its purpose, i.e. health, is distinct from the activity of healing(cf. Eth. Nic. 1140 a 1–23; Mag. mor. 1197 a 3; Pol. 1254 a 2), but the difference between practical andproductive arts, not always being relevant for Aristotle’s purposes, is not always clearly explained (cf.Rh. 1362 b 4; Pol. 1325 b 18).35 For numerous examples see H. Bonitz, Index Aristotelicus, 820 b 25ff.; a number of instances arelisted by Bonitz under the heading ‘angustiore sensu, i q philosophari’, but many of these may bequestioned: there is, for instance, no distinction in Aristotle between natural science and naturalphilosophy (e.g. Part. an. 640 b 5).36 Cf. the use of periergos in the passage from On Respiration (quoted below).37 There is great variety in translations of this expression; some examples: ‘accomplished physicians’(Hett); ‘scientific physicians’ (Beare); ‘les médecins les plus distingués’ (Mugnier); ‘les plus habilesmédecins’ (Tricot); ‘die tiefer angelegten Ärzte’ (Rolfes); ‘ii qui inter medicos sunt peritiores’ (Siwek);‘medici elegantiores’ (Bussemaker); ‘clever doctors’ (Ross); ‘i medici più accorti’ (Lanza).38 E.g. Eth. Nic. 1095 a 18; 1095 b 22.39 See Eth. Nic. 1127 b 23; 1128 a 15; 1128 a 31; Pol. 1320 b 7.40 See Eth. Nic. 1128 a 15; Pol. 1320 b 7; other instances are listed by LSJ, s.v. ii, who render by‘accomplished’.