This project assembles a single profile of the professional physician in antiquity that reflects ... more This project assembles a single profile of the professional physician in antiquity that reflects the opinions of several ancient Greek and Roman authors. This research clarifies the antique view of medicine and the medical profession, both by examining the consistencies in the profile of the physician and by examining its development over time. The sources examined include 1) Hippocrates, known as the Father of Medicine, to whom the Hippocratic Oath is ascribed; 2) Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher who discusses the physician in his dialogues The Republic and Gorgias; and 3) Galen, the most eminent Roman physician who authored many medical texts. Three methods are used: 1) a dialectical method that examines the definitions the sources present, 2) a diachronic method that orders the definitions historically, and 3) a comparative method that analyzes the similarities between the ancient sources among themselves and against the modern view of the physician. This project finds that th...
The concept of the daimōn recurs constantly in the work of
ancient philosophers and especially i... more The concept of the daimōn recurs constantly in the work of ancient philosophers and especially in the dialogues of Plato. The daimōn stands between the divine and the human, at the intersection of metaphysics and ethics, and it is central to the identity of Socrates as an educator and philosopher. Indeed, the daimōn is essential to understanding how Plato conceptualizes reason, the philosopher, and philosophy itself. In this essay, I argue that defining it well will help us understand Plato’s views better, and will show us that modern virtue ethics, while sharing some of Plato’s concerns, is not philosophy as Plato imagines it should be.
This project assembles a single profile of the professional physician in antiquity that reflects ... more This project assembles a single profile of the professional physician in antiquity that reflects the opinions of several ancient Greek and Roman authors. This research clarifies the antique view of medicine and the medical profession, both by examining the consistencies in the profile of the physician and by examining its development over time. The sources examined include 1) Hippocrates, known as the Father of Medicine, to whom the Hippocratic Oath is ascribed; 2) Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher who discusses the physician in his dialogues The Republic and Gorgias; and 3) Galen, the most eminent Roman physician who authored many medical texts. Three methods are used: 1) a dialectical method that examines the definitions the sources present, 2) a diachronic method that orders the definitions historically, and 3) a comparative method that analyzes the similarities between the ancient sources among themselves and against the modern view of the physician. This project finds that th...
The concept of the daimōn recurs constantly in the work of
ancient philosophers and especially i... more The concept of the daimōn recurs constantly in the work of ancient philosophers and especially in the dialogues of Plato. The daimōn stands between the divine and the human, at the intersection of metaphysics and ethics, and it is central to the identity of Socrates as an educator and philosopher. Indeed, the daimōn is essential to understanding how Plato conceptualizes reason, the philosopher, and philosophy itself. In this essay, I argue that defining it well will help us understand Plato’s views better, and will show us that modern virtue ethics, while sharing some of Plato’s concerns, is not philosophy as Plato imagines it should be.
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Papers by Jacob Dvorak
ancient philosophers and especially in the dialogues of
Plato. The daimōn stands between the divine and the human,
at the intersection of metaphysics and ethics, and it is central
to the identity of Socrates as an educator and philosopher.
Indeed, the daimōn is essential to understanding how Plato
conceptualizes reason, the philosopher, and philosophy itself.
In this essay, I argue that defining it well will help us
understand Plato’s views better, and will show us that modern
virtue ethics, while sharing some of Plato’s concerns, is not
philosophy as Plato imagines it should be.
ancient philosophers and especially in the dialogues of
Plato. The daimōn stands between the divine and the human,
at the intersection of metaphysics and ethics, and it is central
to the identity of Socrates as an educator and philosopher.
Indeed, the daimōn is essential to understanding how Plato
conceptualizes reason, the philosopher, and philosophy itself.
In this essay, I argue that defining it well will help us
understand Plato’s views better, and will show us that modern
virtue ethics, while sharing some of Plato’s concerns, is not
philosophy as Plato imagines it should be.