Hippocrates — "There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, …"
There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance.
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More from Hippocrates
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Details
From 'Precepts', distinguishing empirical knowledge from mere belief.
Date: c. 5th Century BCE
PhilosophicalVerification
Unverifiable
Found in 1 providers: gemini
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Knowledge and belief are fundamentally different. Science involves rigorous observation and reasoning that produces genuine understanding. Opinion is merely assumption or guesswork, which breeds ignorance by masquerading as knowledge. Accepting unexamined beliefs as truth leaves you more confused than if you knew nothing at all. Real understanding requires systematic inquiry, not inherited assumptions or popular consensus.
Relevance to Hippocrates
Hippocrates built medicine on observable evidence rather than supernatural explanation. He rejected the prevailing view that illness was divine punishment, insisting physicians must observe symptoms, document patterns, and reason from evidence. This quote captures his foundational commitment: medicine advances only through disciplined inquiry, not inherited folklore or priestly pronouncement about the body.
The era
In ancient Greece, disease was routinely attributed to gods, demons, or cosmic imbalance. Temple priests and religious healers dominated medical practice. Hippocrates worked during the 5th–4th centuries BCE when philosophy and natural inquiry were just beginning to challenge mythological explanations. His insistence on separating verified knowledge from mere opinion was a radical intellectual rebellion against centuries of superstition-based healing.
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