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On fire-water or the yin-yang of ancient Greek philosophy

On fire-water or the yin-yang of ancient Greek philosophy

On fire-water or the yin-yang of ancient Greek philosophy

  1. Fire and water

The idea that everything in nature began from two opposite yet complementary forces that are inherent in all phenomena as primary fuel and building cores exists in ancient Greek medical thought.

In his first book On Regimen, Hippocrates says (Regimen, I, III):[1]

“Now all animals, including man, are composed of two things, different in power but working together in their use, namely, fire and water. Both together these are sufficient for one another and for everything else. Now the power that each of them possesses is this. Fire can move all things always; but in turn each masters or is mastered to the greatest maximum or the least minimum possible. Neither of them can gain the complete mastery for the following reason. The fire, as it advances to the limit of the water, lacks nourishment, and so turns to where it is likely to be nourished; the water, as it advances to the limit of the fire, find its motion fail, and so stops at this point. When it stops, its force ceases, and hereafter is consumed to nourish the fire which assails it. Neither, however, can become completely master for the following reasons. If ever either were to be mastered first, none of the things that are now would be as it is now. But things being as they are, the same things will always exist, and neither singly nor all together will the elements fail. So fire and water, as I have said, suffice for all things throughout the universe unto their maximum and their minimum alike.”

Hippocrates repeats his views on fire and water throughout his work. This particular passage, however, is the clearest on fire and water’s vital importance for understanding human nature. This way Hippocrates clarifies that human nature is a part of the whole, and what is true for everything must be true for humans. This passage clearly presents ancient Greek medical thought as holistic, that man can only be a likeness of the whole, which is governed by the laws of the universe. Thus, humans achieve self-knowledge by observing the whole, which is present within.

Hippocrates’ ideas on fire and water are also present in Traditional Chinese medical thinking. The Chinese Yin-Yang is Hippocrates’ fire and water. Both the Chinese and Hippocrates speak of the common principle of all cosmic phenomena, which is the interaction (attraction and repulsion) of two opposite yet complementary forces. These two forces construct and move everything. How can two cultures that developed so far apart from one another have identical beliefs? It is because they are both based on the observation of natural phenomena, which necessarily leads to the same conclusions. The fact that they share identical ideas forces us to see that the conclusions can only be true.

[1] Hippocrates, translated by W. H. S. Jones, vol. IV, (London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1931), 231, 233.

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