Empiric school
Encyclopedia
The Empiric school of medicine
(Empirics, Empiricists, or Empirici) was an ancient school of medicine in ancient Greece and Rome
. They were so called from the word empeiria (ἐμπειρία "experience") because they professed to derive their knowledge from experiences only, and in doing so set themselves in opposition to the Dogmatic school
. Serapion of Alexandria
, and Philinus of Cos
, are regarded as the founders of this school in the 3rd century BC. Among the other physicians who belonged to this sect there were: Apollonius of Citium, Glaucias
, Heraclides
, Bacchius
, Zeuxis
, Menodotus
, Theodas
, Herodotus of Tarsus
, Aeschrion
, Sextus Empiricus
, and Marcellus Empiricus
. The sect survived a long time, as Marcellus lived in the 4th century. The doctrines of this school are described by Aulus Cornelius Celsus
in the introduction to his De Medicina
.
is incomprehensible. That these things cannot be understood appears from the controversies among philosophers and physician
s, and in the way in which the methods of practice differed from place to place, one method being used in Rome
, another in Egypt
, and another in Gaul
. Often too, the causes are evident; as in a wound
, and if the evident cause does not suggest a method of curing, then much less so other obscure methods. This being the case, it is much better to seek relief from things certain and tried; that is, from remedies as learned from experience.
They said that medicine, in its infancy, was deduced from experiments; for the sick, in a time when there were no physicians, had either taken food
in the first days of their illness, or had abstained, and that the illness was more quickly alleviated in one group than the other. This and other instances occurring daily were observed by people diligent enough to realize which method was best to cure particular conditions, and hence the art of medicine arose. Medicine was not invented in consequence of reason
ing, but that theory
was sought after the discovery of medicine.
They asked, too, whether reason prescribed the same as experience, or something different: if the same, then it is not necessary; if different, then mischievous. Initially there was a necessity to examine remedies
with the greatest accuracy, but now they are sufficiently ascertained; there are no new diseases, and hence no need for any novel methods of healing. If a patient had an unknown type of illness
, the physician would not recourse to obscure knowledge, but would see what type of illness was most nearly allied, and to make a trial of the medicines used to treat the allied condition.
What matters is not what causes, but what cures the condition. It does not matter why a concoction works, only that it does work. Nor is it necessary to know how we breathe
, but what relieves difficult breathing. Likewise we should not seek the cause of motion in the arteries, but what each kind of motion indicates. These things are known by experience. There is no value in dissecting dead bodies, since the state of the organs are very different in dead bodies compared to living ones.
They supported their opinions in favour of experience with the famous "Tripod of Medicine":
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
(Empirics, Empiricists, or Empirici) was an ancient school of medicine in ancient Greece and Rome
Medicine in ancient Rome
Medicine in ancient Rome combined various techniques using different tools and rituals. Ancient Roman medicine included a number of specializations such as internal medicine, ophthalmology and urology...
. They were so called from the word empeiria (ἐμπειρία "experience") because they professed to derive their knowledge from experiences only, and in doing so set themselves in opposition to the Dogmatic school
Dogmatic school
The Dogmatic school of medicine was an ancient school of medicine in ancient Greece and Rome. They were the oldest of the medical sects of antiquity. They derived their name from dogma, a philosophical tenet or opinion, because they professed to follow the opinions of Hippocrates, hence they were...
. Serapion of Alexandria
Serapion of Alexandria
Serapion of Alexandria, was a physician who lived in the 3rd century BC. He belonged to the Empiric school, and so much extended and improved the system of Philinus of Cos, that the creation of the school is attributed to him by some ancient writers. Serapion wrote against Hippocrates with much...
, and Philinus of Cos
Philinus of Cos
Philinus of Cos was a Greek physician. He was the reputed founder of the Empiric school. He was a pupil of Herophilus, a contemporary of Bacchius, and a predecessor of Serapion. He wrote a work on part of the Hippocratic collection directed against Bacchius, and also one on botany, neither of...
, are regarded as the founders of this school in the 3rd century BC. Among the other physicians who belonged to this sect there were: Apollonius of Citium, Glaucias
Glaucias (physician)
For other persons with the same name, see GlauciasGlaucias was a Greek physician of the Empiric school who wrote commentaries on the works of Hippocrates....
, Heraclides
Heraclides of Tarentum
Heraclides of Tarentum, , was a Greek physician of the Empiric school who wrote commentaries on the works of Hippocrates....
, Bacchius
Bacchius of Tanagra
Bacchius of Tanagra, , , was one of the earliest commentators on the writings of Hippocrates and was a native of Tanagra in Boeotia. He was a follower of Herophilus, and a contemporary of Philinus. Therefore, he must have lived in the 3rd century BC...
, Zeuxis
Zeuxis of Tarentum
Zeuxis of Tarentum, 3rd century BC, was a physician of the Empiric school, who wrote commentaries on the works of Hippocrates.He was a native of Tarentum, one of the earliest commentators on the writings of Hippocrates, and also one of the earliest of the Empiric school...
, Menodotus
Menodotus of Nicomedia
Menodotus of Nicomedia in Bithynia, was a physician; a pupil of Antiochus of Laodicea; and tutor to Herodotus of Tarsus. He belonged to the Empirical school, and lived probably about the beginning of the 2nd century. He refuted some of the opinions of Asclepiades of Bithynia, and was exceedingly...
, Theodas
Theodas of Laodicea
Theodas of Laodicea, was a physician of the Empiric school, in the 2nd century. He is mentioned by Diogenes Laertius as being a native of Laodicea, a pupil of Antiochus of Laodicea, and a contemporary of Menodotus. A physician of this name is also quoted by Andromachus....
, Herodotus of Tarsus
Herodotus (physician)
Herodotus was the name of more than one physician in the time of ancient Greece and Rome:*A pupil of Athenaeus, or perhaps Agathinus, who belonged to the Pneumatic school. He probably lived towards the end of the 1st century AD, and lived at Rome, where he practised medicine with great success...
, Aeschrion
Aeschrion of Pergamon
Aeschrion of Pergamon was a physician in the 2nd century AD. He was one of Galen's tutors, who says that he belonged to the sect of the Empirici, and that he had a great knowledge of pharmacy and materia medica...
, Sextus Empiricus
Sextus Empiricus
Sextus Empiricus , was a physician and philosopher, and has been variously reported to have lived in Alexandria, Rome, or Athens. His philosophical work is the most complete surviving account of ancient Greek and Roman skepticism....
, and Marcellus Empiricus
Marcellus Empiricus
Marcellus Empiricus, also known as Marcellus Burdigalensis , was a Latin medical writer from Gaul at the turn of the 4th and 5th centuries. His only extant work is the De medicamentis, a compendium of pharmacological preparations drawing on the work of multiple medical and scientific writers as...
. The sect survived a long time, as Marcellus lived in the 4th century. The doctrines of this school are described by Aulus Cornelius Celsus
Aulus Cornelius Celsus
Aulus Cornelius Celsus was a Roman encyclopedist, known for his extant medical work, De Medicina, which is believed to be the only surviving section of a much larger encyclopedia. The De Medicina is a primary source on diet, pharmacy, surgery and related fields, and it is one of the best sources...
in the introduction to his De Medicina
De Medicina
De Medicina is a 1st-century medical treatise by Aulus Cornelius Celsus, a Roman encyclopedist and possibly a practicing physician. It is the only surviving section of a much larger encyclopedia; only small parts still survive from sections on agriculture, military science, oratory, jurisprudence...
.
Doctrines
The Empiric school said that is was necessary to understand the evident causes of disease, but considered the inquiry after the hidden causes and natural actions to be fruitless, because NatureNature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
is incomprehensible. That these things cannot be understood appears from the controversies among philosophers and physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
s, and in the way in which the methods of practice differed from place to place, one method being used in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, another in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, and another in Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
. Often too, the causes are evident; as in a wound
Wound
A wound is a type of injury in which skin is torn, cut or punctured , or where blunt force trauma causes a contusion . In pathology, it specifically refers to a sharp injury which damages the dermis of the skin.-Open:...
, and if the evident cause does not suggest a method of curing, then much less so other obscure methods. This being the case, it is much better to seek relief from things certain and tried; that is, from remedies as learned from experience.
They said that medicine, in its infancy, was deduced from experiments; for the sick, in a time when there were no physicians, had either taken food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
in the first days of their illness, or had abstained, and that the illness was more quickly alleviated in one group than the other. This and other instances occurring daily were observed by people diligent enough to realize which method was best to cure particular conditions, and hence the art of medicine arose. Medicine was not invented in consequence of reason
Reason
Reason is a term that refers to the capacity human beings have to make sense of things, to establish and verify facts, and to change or justify practices, institutions, and beliefs. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, language, ...
ing, but that theory
Theory
The English word theory was derived from a technical term in Ancient Greek philosophy. The word theoria, , meant "a looking at, viewing, beholding", and referring to contemplation or speculation, as opposed to action...
was sought after the discovery of medicine.
They asked, too, whether reason prescribed the same as experience, or something different: if the same, then it is not necessary; if different, then mischievous. Initially there was a necessity to examine remedies
Cure
A cure is a completely effective treatment for a disease.The Cure is an English rock band.Cure, or similar, may also refer to:-Film and television:* The Cure , a short film starring Charlie Chaplin...
with the greatest accuracy, but now they are sufficiently ascertained; there are no new diseases, and hence no need for any novel methods of healing. If a patient had an unknown type of illness
Illness
Illness is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered another word for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist...
, the physician would not recourse to obscure knowledge, but would see what type of illness was most nearly allied, and to make a trial of the medicines used to treat the allied condition.
What matters is not what causes, but what cures the condition. It does not matter why a concoction works, only that it does work. Nor is it necessary to know how we breathe
Breathing
Breathing is the process that moves air in and out of the lungs. Aerobic organisms require oxygen to release energy via respiration, in the form of the metabolism of energy-rich molecules such as glucose. Breathing is only one process that delivers oxygen to where it is needed in the body and...
, but what relieves difficult breathing. Likewise we should not seek the cause of motion in the arteries, but what each kind of motion indicates. These things are known by experience. There is no value in dissecting dead bodies, since the state of the organs are very different in dead bodies compared to living ones.
They supported their opinions in favour of experience with the famous "Tripod of Medicine":
- Observation: The observations which the patientPatientA patient is any recipient of healthcare services. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, veterinarian, or other health care provider....
had made in the course of the illness. concerning the course of the disease and results of any treatments. - History: A written collection of observations made by others.
- Analogy: When treating a new illness, selecting a plan of treatment by comparing it with a known disease which most resembled it.
External links
- Aulus Cornelius Celsus, On Medicine, Prooemium