Educating the public, defending the art: language use and medical education in Hippocrates' The Art.

Abstract

The Hippocratic treatise The Art is an epideictic speech in defence of medicine against certain unnamed detractors. The author of The Art is fully aware of the fact that for him, language (as opposed to, say, a live demonstration) is the medium of education. Accordingly, the author shows full command of the main issues of the late fifth century 'sophistic' debate on the nature and the correct and effective use of language. In his views on language, the author seems to adopt a quite positivistic stance. For him, words reflect our perception and interpretation of the visual appearances or eidea of the things that are, and these appearances prove the existence of things in nature. To this extent, language reflects reality, provided that we language users have the expertise to form correct interpretations of what we observe. At the same time, language remains a secondary phenomenon: it is not a 'growth' of nature, but a set of conventional signs that have a basis in reality only if they are applied correctly. There is always the possibility of incorrect interpretation of our perceptions, which will lead to an incorrect use of language that does not reflect real phenomena. Words remain conventional expressions, and not all words can be expected to reflect the truth. In fact, the unnamed detractors of the art are victim to many such incorrect interpretations. Consistent with his view of language as secondary to visual phenomena, the author claims in his peroration that as a medium for the defence of medicine, the spoken word is generally considered less effective than live demonstrations. This modesty, while undoubtedly effective as a means to catch the sympathy of his public, still seems slightly overstated. Our author is fully aware of the powers and limitations of his medium, and shows great sophistication in its use.