§4πότερον 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, 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;
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?
καὶ μὴν ὀψὲ μέν· ἄμεινον δὲ νῦν γοῦν σωφρονήσαντά σε, μήδ’ ἢ καθάπερ κολοιὸν ἢ κόρακα περὶ φωνῶν ζυγομαχεῖν, ἀλλ’ αὐτὴν τῶν πραγμάτων σπουδάζειν τὴν ἀλήθειαν.
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.
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.
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.
εἰ τοίνυν καὶ τοῦτ’ ἀναίσχυντον, καὶ θάτερον οὐ περὶ πραγμάτων ἐστὶν, ἀλλ’ ὑπὲρ ὀνομάτων ἐρίζοντος, φιλοσοφητέον ἡμῖν ἐστι πρότερον, εἴπερ Ἱπποκράτους ἀληθῶς ἐσμεν ζηλωταί· κᾂν τοῦτο ποιῶμεν, οὐδὲν κωλύει μὴ παραπλησίους, ἀλλὰ καὶ βελτίους αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι, μανθάνοντας μὲν, ὅσα καλῶς ἐκείνῳ γέγραπται, τὰ λείποντα δ’ αὐτοὺς ἐξευρίσκοντας.
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.