The Greeks
In our rich human history, one of the arguably most defining cultures have to be the Greeks. Their understanding of the world is amazing for the age theyr were living in. Therefore, many Greek works are still regarded as revelant to our modern soceity. Two Greek men wrote some particularly defining works, which are here compared to the ethics of today.
Hippocratic Oath
Hippocrates is credited with being the first physician to reject superstitions and beliefs that credited supernatural or divine forces with causing illness. Hippocrates was credited by the disciples of Pythagoras of allying philosophy and medicine. He separated the discipline of medicine from religion, believing and arguing that disease was not a punishment inflicted by the gods but rather the product of environmental factors, diet and living habits. Indeed there is not a single mention of a mystical illness in the entirety of the Hippocratic Corpus.
Hippocratic medicine was notable for its strict professionalism, discipline and rigorous practice. The Hippocratic work On the Physician recommends that physicians always be well-kempt, honest, calm, understanding, and serious.
The Hippocratic Oath, a seminal document on the ethics of medical practice, was attributed to Hippocrates in antiquity.. While the Oath is rarely used in its original form today, it serves as a foundation for other, similar oaths and laws that define good medical practice and morals. Such derivatives are regularly taken today by medical graduates about to enter medical practice
Shown below are Six applications of the Oath which are still used in the daily life of a physician
-To keep the good of the patient as the highest priority. A physician should remain silent when someone wants information about his patient. And he should support his patient at all times.
-To practice and prescribe to the best of my ability for the good of my patients, and to try to avoid harming them.
- To practice and prescribe to the best of my ability for the good of my patients, and to try to avoid harming them. This intention is the purpose of the physician. However, this item is still invoked in the modern discussions of euthanasia.
-Never to do deliberate harm to anyone for anyone else's interest. Physician organizations in most countries have strongly denounced physician participation in legal executions. However, in a small number of cases, most notably Oregon, Washington, and the Netherlands, a doctor can prescribe euthanasia with the patient's consent.
-To avoid violating the morals of my community. Many licensing agencies will revoke a physician's license for offending the morals of the community .
-To avoid attempting to do things that other specialists can do better. A physician shouldn’t do surgery when a surgeon is available. He should do the job he is ought to do.
Plato's, Protagoras
Plato’s most brilliant dramatic masterpieces, the Protagoras shows a vivid picture of the crisis of fifth century Greek thought, in which traditional values and conceptions of humanity were subjected to criticism of the Sophists and to the far more radical criticism of Socrates..
What account do you give of that which, in our way of speaking, is termed being overcome by pleasure? The answer to this question will be according to Plato: Nothing is mightier than knowledge. Knowledge must have the advantages over pleasure and everything ells. Your first reaction to this statement will be even a someone who has knowledge will chose pleasure over knowledge. Protagoras and Socrates tell us that the meaning of being overcome by pleasure is ‘ignorance’ . The choice between good and evil, pain and pleasure is made by a defect of knowledge. The act which is done without knowledge is done in ignorance. Therefore the meaning of being overcome by pleasure is ignorance.
In some way the arguments of Plato apply to modern expressions. Not in the way that everything is ignorance but in the way that people at first only take a look at the surface and don’t look closer to something, until someone tells them to. Eventually when they have taken a closer look they will agree that not everything is like it seems.
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