The Body as a Form of ID and Social Differentiation (In Ancient Greece)

• Authors: Tomasz Sahaj
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The aim of the article is the presentation of the philosophical approach towards the human body against a background of broader culture and social context. In ancient Greece, the corporeal nature of man was a category strongly linked with a precisely understood form physical culture, including both philosophy and medicine and what we would call today ‘physiotherapy’. In antiquity, rank and a person's social status was assessed not only by the quantity of material goods owned, but also by the superiority of one's body and their fitness level; the physical form. Those who were disabled were disposed of or outcast. The human body was treated as a kind of identification card, which contributed to the development of numerous social divisions. This paradigm was supported both in practice and theory by such outstanding thinkers as: Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Hippocrates, Pythagoras and Diogenes of Sinope.

Keywords

EN

human body; man; philosophy; ancient times

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• Journal: Human Movement
• Year: 2011
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 385-390

Dates

published

1 - 12 - 2011

online

25 - 12 - 2011

Contributors

author

Tomasz Sahaj

• University School of Physical Education, Poznań, Poland

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10038-011-0046-2