On the Origins of the Hippocratic Oath (GRBS 59 [2019], 621-645) (original) (raw)
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The Oath of Hippocrates is one of the most famous documents of Western medicine. It continues to be administered at graduation time in medical schools around the globe. Yet the values and meanings expressed in the Oath are closely linked to social and cultural conditions that prevailed in antiquity. This essay looks separately at the text’s components: oath, covenant, treatment limits, moral pledge, contacts with patients, and final reward, explaining their rationale and significance. Subjecting past ethical principles to historical scrutiny contributes to an understanding of their true significance while giving us the tools to better appreciate our own professional ethos.
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The Frontiers of Ancient Science. Papers in Honor of Heinrich von Staden, ed. by B. Holmes and K.D. Fischer (Berlin, W. De Gruyter), 47–66., 2015
This paper undertakes a comparison between three ancient medical codes (Greece, India, and China), and argues that the special relationship between doctor and patient seems to be responsible for a remarkable uniformity in the ethical rules that emerge to safeguard confidentiality and professional working method.
The oath of the Hippocratic physician as an Indo-european formula
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The oath of physicians (orkos) is an indo-European formula reflecting the beliefs of this culture. It was written when the authority of the Indo-European worldview was declining. To support this thesis the paper shows that: (1) the Greeks were Indo-Europeans; (2) Indo-Europeans had a world vision that understood the cosmos as a society of gods and men, whose activities were grouped in three functions: Priests-lawyers, warriors and husbandmen. (3) Harmony in this society was maintained by rta, a force that set up a field of tension that aligned all ideas; (4) Rta demanded that gods and men be bound by the Principle of Reciprocity and Exchange creating a true friendship between them; (5) Each function had its own gods and responsibilities and its own brand of medicine; (6) Each Indo-European god has an equivalent among the Greek gods, and in particular those mentioned in the Oath; (7) The commitments in the oath are those of two of the Indo-European functions; (8) The oath ends with a...
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Hippocratic Oath indicates a prevailing ethos rather than a professional approach, and it is still regarded as the cornerstone and foundation of the medical profession. Medicine in Ancient Greece was strongly influenced by the values of classical philosophy as introduced by its main representatives: Plato and Aristotle. Hippocrates himself has been recognized not only as a pioneering physician, but also as an outstanding philosopher. In his writings, he claimed that ''the physician must insert wisdom in medicine'' and denounced the technocratic aspect of the medical profession. The Hippocratic Oath constitutes a synopsis of the moral code of Ancient Greek medicine and contributes to the stabilization of the tri-part relationship among the physician, the patient, and the illness, as described by Hippocrates. The harmony of this interactive triangle has been deranged by several factors, such as technological evolution, public media, and cost-effective modalities with multiple consequences. In these terms, the reevaluation of the Hippocratic Oath and its time-enduring messages seems essential to reinstate the relationship between the physician and the patient under a new philosophico-medical prism.
The Symbolic and Moral Interpretation of the Hippocratic Oath
Mirabilia: Electronic Journal of Antiquity, Middle & Modern Ages, 2021
Resumo: O juramento de Hipócrates permanece um dos textos éticos mais famosos em Ética Médica e Bioética. O objetivo deste ensaio é esclarecer suas interpretações poéticas e simbólicas, buscando o uso adequado do Juramento por meio de uma abordagem narrativa crítica com a Teoria Aristotélica dos Quatro Discursos e a interpretação de suas prescrições morais diretas, indiretas, específicas e gerais. O Juramento é um texto poético que pode ser usado para causar uma forte impressão no novo médico e auxiliar em sua educação moral e em seu compromisso com a comunidade moral da Medicina. Essa análise torna evidente que o Juramento de Hipócrates ainda pode ser utilizado para a educação médica e a inspiração profissional, ao invés de ser apenas descartado como uma curiosidade histórica. Conclui-se que o Juramento pode ser abordado de forma mais adequada com ferramentas literárias e filosóficas específicas capazes de decodificar seus significados para a melhor compreensão pelo médico contemporâneo.
The Linacre Quarterly, 2022
The Hippocratic Oath is the oldest and wisest description of our profession. It contains profound wisdom on the nature of health, healing, and the relationships both within and without that are necessary to the good practice of medicine. The practices described in its lines are antidotes for much of what ails modern medicine.
European Spine Journal, 2018
This is the second part of a paper on the relevance and significance of the Hippocratic Oath to modern medical ethical and moral values with the aim at answering questions on controversial issues related to the Oath. Part I argued that the general attributes and ethical values of the Oath are relevant to the modern world. Part II attempts to elucidate the interpretation of the specific injunctions of the Oath from today's perspective in relation to ethical values concerning the duties of physicians to patients and society. The objective is to prove that the Oath has established the general context of medical ethics of the physicianpatient relationship, which reflects longlasting moral values that still define the medical profession. The Oath has exemplified the fundamental modern ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence and confidentiality. Its foremost message focuses on patients' best interests and not on the prohibition of surgery, euthanasia or abortion, as is generally believed. Furthermore, the Oath as a code of professional identity has had a powerful impact on modem judicial opinions regarding medical ethics. In a lot of ways it is as relevant of the values of contemporary medicine as it was for ancient medicine.