Abstract

Linka, V. Dissertation: Approaches to Pain in Classical Greek Philosophy and Medicine In this dissertation, I undertake an exploration of the approaches to the problem of pain within classical Greek philosophy and medicine. The aim of my research is to investigate the role of pain by analysing the most prevalent Greek words denoting pain in three ancient text collections: the Corpus Hippocraticum, Corpus Platonicum, and Corpus Aristotelicum. As an omnipresent phenomenon inherent to both human and animal life, pain held significant importance as a theme for medical and philosophical contemplation during antiquity. In the introductory section, I not only outline the theme, methodologies, and contemporary discussions on pain in antiquity but also provide an overview of the origins of classical Greek approaches to pain. This involves summarizing the conceptualization of pain in various genres and works from Homer to the authors who lived contemporaneously with Aristotle. Throughout the three central chapters of this dissertation, I concentrate on addressing the following research questions: What is pain? Are there distinct kinds of pain? What role does pain play? During the course of this dissertation, I elucidate and critically evaluate how these questions were addressed by the physicians and...