Διαδρομές της «κρίσης»: Απο την αρχαία Ελλάδα στον πολιτικό λόγο της νεωτερικότητας

Abstract

In this article we follow the vicissitudes of “crisis” from ancient Greek to modernity’s vernaculars. Hippocratic medicine provided an initial articulation of the concept, which was further elaborated by Galen. Roman medical discourse, translating κρίσις as crisis, established it as a dogma throughout the Middle Ages. At the beginning of modernity we witness a de-medicalization of “crisis” both in public discourse and within medicine itself. It is then that “crisis” acquires the general meaning with which we are familiar with. Using examples we demonstrate that by the middle of the 18th century “crisis” was a common term in English, French and German political discourse.