Plato's Rivalry with Medicine

A Struggle and Its Dissolution

Susan B. Levin

Makes a case for Plato's deep relevance to contemporary bioethics.
Argues that not only is bioethicists' confidence in Aristotle misplaced but that the richness of Plato, particularly the Laws, has so far been nearly untapped.
Attending carefully both to Plato and to the Hippocratic Corpus, shows that Plato targets medicine as an important rival on the topics of what is real, human nature, and the best life for human beings.

Plato's Rivalry with Medicine

A Struggle and Its Dissolution

Susan B. Levin

Description

While scholars typically view Plato's engagement with medicine as uniform and largely positive, Susan B. Levin argues that from the Gorgias through the Laws, his handling of medicine unfolds in several key phases. Further, she shows that Plato views medicine as an important rival for authority on phusis (nature) and eudaimonia (flourishing). Levin's arguments rest on careful attention both to Plato and to the Hippocratic Corpus.

Levin shows that an evident but unexpressed tension involving medicine's status emerges in the Gorgias and is explored in Plato's critiques of medicine in the Symposium and Republic. In the Laws, however, this rivalry and tension dissolve. Levin addresses the question of why Plato's rivalry with medicine is put to rest while those with rhetoric and poetry continue. On her account, developments in his views of human nature, with their resulting impact on his political thought, drive Plato's striking adjustments involving medicine in the Laws.

Levin's investigation of Plato is timely: for the first time in the history of bioethics, the value of ancient philosophy is receiving notable attention. Most discussions focus on Aristotle's concept of phronêsis (practical wisdom); here, Levin argues that Plato has much to offer bioethics as it works to address pressing concerns about the doctor-patient tie, medical professionalism, and medicine's relationship to society.

Plato's Rivalry with Medicine

A Struggle and Its Dissolution

Susan B. Levin

Terms
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Gorgias' Innovative Lens on Human Existence
1. Introduction
2. Technai v. Empeiriai: The Gorgias' Account of What Is and Is Not Worth Doing
3. The Gorgias' Soul-Body Division
4. Goods Set Apart from the Good
5. Hedonism and Antithetical Ways of Life
6. Order as the Key to Virtue and the Good
7. The Gorgias on Punishment
8. Gorgias 517d-518a and the Dialogue's Final Hierarchy of Human Endeavors
9. The Gorgias' Preeminent Technê of Politics
Chapter 2: Medicine in the Gorgias: A Collision Course with Philosophy Is Set
1. Introduction
2. Medicine's Role as Aid and Support to the Gorgias' Castigation of Rhetoric
3. Taking Stock of the Gorgias' Parallels and Debts to Medical Writings
4. The Roots of What Will Become Plato's Head-On Rivalry with Medicine
4.1 Medicine on the Highest Good and the Big Three Epithumiai
4.2 Pain
4.3 Soul
4.4 Microcosmic Hubris
5. Looking Ahead
Chapter 3: Eryximachus' Tale: The Symposium's Challenge to Medicine's Preeminence
1. Introduction
2. Eryximachus as Emcee?
3. Macrocosmic Occupations: The Logos of Eryximachus and Its Hippocratic Backdrop
4. Eryximachus' Appropriation and Critique of Heraclitus and Anaximander
5. Desire, Self-Indulgence, and Self-Control: Eryximachus and Aretê
6. The Field of Technai: Eryximachus' Loose Construction
7. Concluding Thoughts: Eryximachus' and Our Own
Chapter 4: Justice and the Good in Kallipolis: Medicine's Ejection from the Ranks of Technai
1. Introduction
2. The Hippocratic Backdrop
2.1 Treatments
2.2 Conditions
2.3 Non-Disease Impairments
3. The Republic's Account of Medical Practice
4. Philosophers, the Big Three, and the Soul-Body Tie
5. Infallible Philosophers and the Good
6. Medicine a Technê No More
7. The Republic's Hierarchy of Human Endeavors and Medicine's Distinctiveness
8. A Brief Look Ahead
Chapter 5: Approaching the Laws by Way of the Statesman
1. Introduction
2. Human Capacity in the Statesman and Republic Compared
3. The Statesman on Human Endeavors
4. Medicine in the Statesman and Its Sociopolitical Milieu
5. The Laws on Phusis and (In)Fallibility: The Laws and Republic Contrasted
6. The Touchstone of Magnesia's Quest for Unity
7. Maintaining Magnesia: The Nocturnal Council as Philosopher-Rulers or Closely Akin Thereto?
7.1 Revising the Law
7.2 Magistrates' Corruptibility
7.3 The Nocturnal Council's Fallibility as a Judge of Character
7.4 Magnesia's Own Cognitive Resources are Insufficient
7.5 Cognitive Adequacy and the Council
8. Conclusion
Chapter 6: Medicine in the Laws: A Rivalry Dissolved
1. Introduction
2. The Laws' Opposition to Rhetoricians/Sophists and Poets
3. Medicine in the Laws
4. Magnesia's Ordinary Citizens Front and Center
5. Non-Citizens' Enhanced Position in Magnesia
6. The Gorgias' Uncertainty Resolved
Chapter 7: Plato's Legacy to Contemporary Bioethics
1. Introduction
2. Entrenchment in Bioethics' Quest for Alternatives: Two Prominent Illustrations
3. Avoiding Scylla and Charybdis: Aristotle to the Rescue?
4. Bioethics and Plato Thus Far
5. Preconditions of True Doctor-Patient Collaboration: Grounding an Appeal to Plato
6. Bioethics Compared with the Laws on Human Fallibility
7. Parity and Paideia
8. Paideia and Medical School: Island or Way Station?
9. Paideia and (Im)moral Incentives
10. Transparency and Accountability: The Who and What of Knowing
11. Veatch and Brody on Lay People's Values-Contributions
12. Conclusion
Bibliography
General Index
Index Locorum

Plato's Rivalry with Medicine

A Struggle and Its Dissolution

Susan B. Levin

Author Information

Susan B. Levin, Professor of Philosophy, Smith College

Susan B. Levin is Professor of Philosophy at Smith College. She has previously published The Ancient Quarrel between Philosophy and Poetry Revisited: Plato and the Greek Literary Tradition (OUP, 2001) and numerous articles.

Plato's Rivalry with Medicine

A Struggle and Its Dissolution

Susan B. Levin

Reviews and Awards

"... Levin reminds us that Plato's attitude toward medicine is not as simple and consistent as often assumed ... I praise her attempt to make use of this trove of illuminating but largely undervalued texts in her reconstruction of Platoâs historical-cultural context. The same goes for her treatment of the Laws, which, she demonstrates, ought to be studied more seriously as a guide to Platoâs thought than it often is." - Joel E. Mann, Ancient Philosophy

"Susan Levin has written a compelling, tightly-argued book detailing Plato's complex relationship with ancient Greek medicine ... This book is essential reading for those interested in ancient medicine, and Plato and medicine in particular. It is full of fascinating details, and is well-grounded in the literature ... the book remains a valuable contribution to the new interest in Plato's relationship to medicine." - Mark McPherran, Polis, The Journal for Ancient Greek Political Thought

"... a well-argued, intellectually challenging, and edifying work that is accessible to a wide range of readers. The fresh light that it shines upon the professional location of physicians within Laws' Magnesia is a particularly valuable contribution, made all the more so by Levin's arguments about how Plato eventually arrived at that point. Of no less importance, though, is Levin's demonstration of how the works of Plato — and ancient thought more broadly — can provide useful insights for exploring contemporary philosophical issues in productive ways. It is my opinion that Levin has achieved this here, and I look forward to seeing further discussion that the book promotes." - Tyson Sukava, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Plato's Rivalry with Medicine

A Struggle and Its Dissolution

Susan B. Levin

From Our Blog

Plato and contemporary bioethics

Since its advent in the early 1970s, bioethics has exploded, with practitioners' thinking expressed not only in still-expanding scholarly venues but also in the gamut of popular media. Not surprisingly, bioethicists' disputes are often linked with technological advances of relatively recent vintage, including organ transplantation and artificial-reproductive measures like preimplantation genetic diagnosis and prenatal genetic testing.

Posted on October 12, 2014

Read the blog post