Ethics of the Corpus Hippocraticum: Philosophical Foundations of a Contemporary Debate

Abstract

The article deals with a contemporary debate on Hippocratic ethics. Both the opponents and proponents of Hippocratic medical ethics seem to ignore the complexity of the said ethical system. The ethics of the Corpus Hippocraticum can be properly understood only in relation to physiological, psychological, and other factors. Therefore, the ongoing debate only partially represents ethical issues, and a number of arguments in it cannot be considered as valid. Moreover, the complexity of Hippocratic ethics reveals that quite a few of its principles are still valid today and deserve to be further analyzed. In addition, some of its principles have been incontestably incorporated into contemporary medical ethics.