Aristotle on sleep and dreams 193
opposed to a non-expert, theoretical approach, that is, between knowledge
being pursued with a view to itsuseor application in a particular case, and
knowledge being pursued for its own sake.^34 The verbphilosopheindoes
not have the narrow meaning of ‘practising philosophy’; it rather means ‘be
interested in, want to know, study’,^35 and as such it seems almost equiva-
lent to the verbskopeisthai(‘inquire’) in the same context.^36 Philosophountes
here denotes people with a theoretical and a more general, non-specialised
interest.
The view mentioned here is attributed to ‘the distinguished among physi-
cians’ (charientes t ̄on iatr ̄on). This expression calls for some explanation.^37
Charieisbasically means ‘pleasing, charming, appealing to someone’s taste’,
but the word is frequently used to refer to an intrinsic quality in virtue
of which someone is pleasing: hence we may consider translations such as
‘elegant, refined, sophisticated, cultivated, civilised, liberal-minded’. Per-
haps ‘distinguished’ covers both aspects most appropriately. In Aristotle’s
works, we sometimes find the expressionhoi charientes,^38 which denotes a
group of people who are distinguished fromhoi polloi(‘the crowd’) andhoi
phortik ̄otatoi(‘the vulgar’ or ‘the mean’).^39 There are also instances where
the word seems to refer to intellectual qualities such as cleverness and skil-
fulness.^40 The question is, therefore, in what sense the doctors mentioned
here are ‘distinguished’ from other doctors.
The point of this reference to medical writers and the terminology in
which it is cast become clearer from a comparison with two other passages
from theParva naturalia, namely from the treatisesOn Sense Perception and
Perceptible ObjectsandOn Respiration:
(^34) Cf. the distinction betweenepist ̄em ̄eandtechn ̄einMetaph. 981 b 14 – 982 a 3 and between practical
and theoretical sciences inEth. Nic. 1139 b 19 – 1140 a 24. Strictly speaking, medicine counts as a
‘productive art’ (poi ̄etik ̄e techn ̄e), since its purpose, i.e. health, is distinct from the activity of healing
(cf.Eth. Nic. 1140 a 1 – 23 ;Mag. mor. 1197 a 3 ;Pol. 1254 a 2 ), but the difference between practical and
productive arts, not always being relevant for Aristotle’s purposes, is not always clearly explained (cf.
Rh. 1362 b 4 ;Pol. 1325 b 18 ).
(^35) For numerous examples see H. Bonitz,Index Aristotelicus, 820 b 25 ff.; a number of instances are
listed by Bonitz under the heading ‘angustiore sensu, i q philosophari’, but many of these may be
questioned: there is, for instance, no distinction in Aristotle between natural science and natural
philosophy (e.g.Part. an. 640 b 5 ).
(^36) Cf. the use ofperiergosin the passage fromOn Respiration(quoted below).
(^37) There is great variety in translations of this expression; some examples: ‘accomplished physicians’
(Hett); ‘scientific physicians’ (Beare); ‘les medecins les plus distingu ́ ́es’ (Mugnier); ‘les plus habiles
medecins’ (Tricot); ‘die tiefer angelegten ́ Arzte’ (Rolfes); ‘ii qui inter medicos sunt peritiores’ (Siwek); ̈
‘medici elegantiores’ (Bussemaker); ‘clever doctors’ (Ross); ‘i medici piu accorti’ (Lanza).`
(^38) E.g.Eth. Nic. 1095 a 18 ; 1095 b 22.
(^39) SeeEth. Nic. 1127 b 23 ; 1128 a 15 ; 1128 a 31 ;Pol. 1320 b 7.
(^40) SeeEth. Nic. 1128 a 15 ;Pol. 1320 b 7 ; other instances are listed by LSJ, s.v.ii, who render by
‘accomplished’.