Pharmakons

• ? A word that can either mean medicine or poison

Examples of pharmakons

For instance, alcohol (specifically whiskey) can be a medicine to save someone who is suffering from hypothermia, but can also cause alcohol poisoning.

Media are considered pharmakons as they can both enhance and cripple us.

Socrates, who famously did not like writing, felt that writing hinders us from remembering things. Hence, since it both enhances human memory and weakens natural memory, writing is a pharmakon.