Ancient medicine: status questionis and the future projects
E.V. Afonasin1, A.S. Afonasina2
1Institute of philosophy and law SB RAS, Novosibirsk
2Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk
Keywords: history of sciences in Antiquity, state of arts in the discipline, medicine, bioethics, natural sciences, Hippocrates, Galen, Alexandrian school of medicine
Abstract
The history of ancient medicine should be studied in a number of interrelated aspects. Firstly, one has to analyze relevant narrative sources, above all such an encyclopedic author as Galen, in order to produce a detailed study of the procedures and methods of diagnostics and treating of deceases typical for ancient medical praxis in the period of its flourishing. The works of Galen are not available in Russian, except to the De Usu Partium Corporis Humani and some minor treatises and extracts. One should not also ignore a number of lesser authorities, the physicians and other scientists, who contributed to the development of ancient medicine. Secondly, what is badly needed is a reliable study of ancient technological advances that allowed the physicians to improve their treatment of human body. The hospitals, medical instruments, glass, votive offerings, etc. can now be studied in situ and on the basis of the museum’s collections (mostly these in Epidaurus, Corinth, Pergamon, Kos and Athens). A national collaborative project, provided it involves a good number of specialists from various field of specialization, could ultimately produce a collective study of the history of ancient medicine in its development, which along with a critical analysis and translations of selected sources, will include a detailed in depth research of ancient theoretical and practical methods and approaches of ancient physicians. Interested researchers are welcome to contribute.
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