Definition of medicine

I affirm: medicine is a science that understands the state of the human body, as it is healthy or will lose health, in order to maintain health and restore it if it is lost. Someone, however, may say: “Medicine is divided into theory and practice, and you, by saying that it is a science, have turned all medicine into theory.” To this we answer: it is said that there are theoretical arts and practical arts, theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy they also say that medicine is theoretical and practical, and in each part the words “theoretical” and “practical” mean different things, but we now do not need to talk about the differences that are meant in this case anywhere other than medicine .

When they say that in medicine there is something theoretical and something practical, one should not think, as many researchers of this issue imagine, that they want to say that one part of medicine is cognition, and the other part is action. On the contrary, you should know that it means something else. Namely: each of the two parts of medicine is nothing more than a science, but one of them is the science of the basics of medicine, and the other is the science of how to apply it. The first of these parts is given the name of science or theory, and the second is given the name of practice. By the theory of medicine we mean that part that teaches only the basic rules and is not included in the presentation of the essence of any procedures. So, for example, in medicine they say that the number of varieties of fever is three, and that there are, say, nine types. And by practice in medicine we understand not only physical action and the production of some bodily movements, but also that part of medical science, the teaching of which contains useful advice, and this advice is related to the presentation of the essence of any procedure. For example, in medicine it is said that something distracting, cooling and opening should first be applied to hot tumors then, having eaten this, the distracting drugs are mixed with emollients, and after it comes to abscess, they are limited to emollients and accelerating drugs, but not for tumors formed from bad juices secreted by the dominant organs.

Such instruction gives you useful advice, that is, a statement of the essence of a certain procedure. When you study both of these parts, you will acquire scientific knowledge and practical knowledge, even if you yourself have never practiced it.

No one has the right to say: “The human body has three states: health, illness, and the third state - neither health nor illness, but you limited yourself to two parts.” If the one who says this thinks about it, he will probably not consider such a division by three necessary, nor will he blame us for omitting it. Moreover, if this is necessary, then our words “loss of health” include both illness and that third condition that we named. The term “health” is not applicable to it, because health is an ability or state due to which the functions of the organ intended to perform them are impeccable, but the opposite term also does not fit it, unless you define health as you want, making it unnecessary conditions. One does not argue with doctors about this, and doctors are not the kind of people with whom one argues about such things. Such bickering with doctors or with those who argue with them does not lead to anything in medicine, and as for the knowledge of truth, in this matter, this relates to the foundations of another science, that is, to the foundations of the science of logic. Let them look for the truth there.