- Source
- Galen. Claudii Galeni Opera Omnia, Volume 1. Kühn, Karl Gottlob, editor. Leipzig: Knobloch, 1821.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0057.tlg003.humanitext-grc1:4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
The author criticizes the opponent for accepting the necessity of virtue and logic in medicine while rejecting the term "philosophy," emphasizing the essential role of learning and training. He urges practicing philosophy to truly follow Hippocrates.
πότερον οὖν ὑπὲρ ὀνομάτων ἔτι διενεχθήσῃ καὶ ληρήσεις ἐρίζων ἐγκρατῆ μὲν, καὶ σώφρονα, καὶ χρημάτων κρείττονα, καὶ δίκαιον ἄξιον εἶναι τὸν ἰατρὸν, οὐ μὴν φιλόσοφόν γε,1 καὶ φύσιν γιγνώσκειν τῶν σωμάτων, καὶ ἐνεργείας ὀργάνων, καὶ χρείας μορίων, καὶ διαφορὰς νοσημάτων, καὶ θεραπειῶν ἐνδείξεις, οὐ μὴν ἠσκῆσθαί γε κατὰ τὴν λογικὴν θεωρίαν, ἢ τὰ πράγματα συγχωρήσας, ὑπὲρ ὀνομάτων αἰδεσθήσῃ διαφέρεσθαι; καὶ μὴν ὀψὲ μέν· ἄμεινον δὲ νῦν γοῦν σωφρονήσαντά σε,2 μήδ’ ἢ καθάπερ κολοιὸν ἢ κόρακα περὶ φωνῶν ζυγομαχεῖν, ἀλλ’ αὐτὴν τῶν πραγμάτων σπουδάζειν τὴν ἀλήθειαν. οὐ γὰρ δὴ τοῦτό γ’ ἂν ἔχοις εἰπεῖν, ὡς ὑφάντης μέν τις, ἢ σκυτοτόμος ἀγαθὸς ἄνευ μαθήσεώς τε καὶ ἀσκήσεως οὐκ ἄν ποτε γένοιτο, δίκαιος δέ τις, ἢ σώφρων, ἢ ἀποδεικτικὸς, ἢ δεινὸς περὶ φύσιν ἐξαιφνίδιον ἀναφανήσεται, μήτε διδασκάλοις χρησάμενος, μήτ’ αὐτὸς ἐπασκήσας ἑαυτόν. εἰ τοίνυν καὶ τοῦτ’ ἀναίσχυντον, καὶ θάτερον οὐ περὶ πραγμάτων ἐστὶν, ἀλλ’ ὑπὲρ ὀνομάτων ἐρίζοντος,3 φιλοσοφητέον ἡμῖν ἐστι πρότερον, εἴπερ Ἱπποκράτους ἀληθῶς ἐσμεν ζηλωταί· κᾂν τοῦτο ποιῶμεν, οὐδὲν κωλύει μὴ4 παραπλησίους, ἀλλὰ καὶ βελτίους αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι, μανθάνοντας μὲν, ὅσα καλῶς ἐκείνῳ γέγραπται, τὰ λείποντα δ’ αὐτοὺς ἐξευρίσκοντας.5
Will you, then, still disagree about names and talk nonsense, wrangling that it is fitting for the physician to be self-controlled, temperate, master over money, and just, but certainly not a philosopher, and to know the nature of bodies, the activities of organs, the utilities of parts, the differences of diseases, and the indications of treatments, but certainly not to have been trained according to logical theory? Or, having conceded the facts, will you be ashamed to disagree about names? Indeed, it is late, but it is better at least now that you, having come to your senses, should not bicker about sounds like a jackdaw or a crow, but seriously pursue the truth of the facts themselves. For you certainly would not be able to say this: that while a weaver or a good shoemaker could never come to be without learning and training, a just, temperate, demonstrative, or nature-skilled person will suddenly appear without having employed teachers or having trained himself. If, therefore, this too is shameless, and the other is the mark of one wrangling not about facts but about names, we must practice philosophy first, if indeed we are truly zealous followers of Hippocrates; and if we do this, nothing prevents us from becoming not just similar to him, but even better than him, on the one hand learning all the things that have been beautifully written by him, and on the other hand discovering for ourselves the things that are lacking.
- 4ἐγκρατῆ μὲν, ... οὐ μὴν φιλόσοφόν γε ... ἠσκῆσθαί γε
This is the content introduced by the participle ἐρίζων (arguing/wrangling). Under the framework of ἄξιον εἶναι τὸν ἰατρὸν (that it is fitting for the physician), it consists of two parallel contrasting structures of μὲν ... δὲ (οὐ μὴν ... γε): "it is fitting for the physician to be self-controlled etc. (ἐγκρατῆ μὲν), but certainly not to be a philosopher (οὐ μὴν φιλόσοφόν γε)", and "to know the nature of bodies etc. (γιγνώσκειν), but certainly not to have been trained according to logical theory (οὐ μὴν ἠσκῆσθαί γε)".
- 4σωφρονήσαντά σε
The logical subject of the accusative-with-infinitive construction introduced by the impersonal expression ἄμεινον [ἐστί] (it is better), along with the agreeing aorist participle. σωφρονήσαντα is the aorist active participle (masculine singular accusative) of σωφρονέω (to come to one's senses, be temperate), modifying the pronoun σε (you).
- 4ἐρίζοντος
Genitive singular masculine of the present participle ἐρίζων. It functions here as a possessive genitive denoting characteristic or property (as in [ἔργον] ἐρίζοντος), meaning "the other is [the mark/doing] of one wrangling about names."
- 4οὐδὲν κωλύει μὴ
The redundant (or sympathetic) negative particle μή is used after the verb κωλύω (to prevent/hinder), which already contains a negative idea. In translation, this μή is not translated as a negative, and the phrase is understood in a positive sense ("nothing prevents us from becoming...").
- 4μανθάνοντας μὲν, ... ἐξευρίσκοντας
Present participles in the accusative masculine plural. They agree with the implied subject of the infinitive γενέσθαι (to become), which is the accusative pronoun ἡμᾶς (us) understood from the context.