Compare And Contrast The Three Major Medical Sects

By the mid-3rd c., it had been concluded that health could be reduced down to what could be grasped by means of reason. However, the general theory which should be applied was not agreed on, and was largely separated into three sects. These sects were empiricism, rationalism, and methodism, in which they had differing views, therefore leading to quarrels amongst them. In modern Western medicine there are still different arguments and approaches, such as the approach to the Covid-19 pandemic and the importance of studying various demographics that can be related to the three major medical sects that Galen describes. Galen goes into detail about rationalists, methodists, and empiricists in his treatise On Sects. He explains that the rationalists

They often quarreled with rationalists due to their view that medical theory was entirely unnecessary. Galen includes the thoughts of Erasistratus, saying he believes that “simple remedies for simple cases can be found by experience… [but not] complex remedies and complex cases” (On Sects 5.9). He is arguing against empiricism by asserting that common ailments can be treated only based on prior experience, but any new or complex issue would have to involve theory in order to create treatment and protocol. This is relevant to modern Western medicine in the way in which physicians, scientists, and the public react to new findings. The Covid-19 pandemic was unexpected and much was unknown, so there was great divide on how the situation should be handled due to the uncertainty. The argument of the rationalists can be applied in this situation, because many believed that prior knowledge was not sufficient to treat or control the disease. Scientists and doctors were attempting to develop medical theory in order to make progress on treatment. Similarly to

They did not place any importance into the cause of the disease and did not consider the cause and treatment to be related. Furthermore, they did not take into account different demographics of the patients when determining treatment, which is described by Galen writing in the point of view of a methodist saying, “neither the part affected as anything useful to offer towards an indication as the appropriate treatment, nor the cause for the age, nor the reason or the place, nor the consideration of the strength of the patient, nor his nature, nor his disposition” (On Sects 10.13). Therefore, they found no importance in observing multiple groups of people to determine if different treatments worked better for certain individuals, but instead treated the patient according to the specific symptoms. This is similar to recent Western medicine in which white men were the basis for studies relating to different health conditions and disabilities. This can be seen when considering the public's knowledge on ADHD or autism. Both present extremely different symptoms in females than males, meaning less women were diagnosed or received a diagnosis much later because they did not present the symptoms that were considered to be the basis. In recent years, there has been pushback and hopes for more representation. This issue in modern medicine is similar to how the methodists approached