Galen on the Atomists

Anti-teleologism, Theory of Matter and Medical Corpuscularism

Inbunden, Engelska, 2025

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Personal physician of the emperors Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, and Septimius Severus, Galen was a multi-faceted intellectual and his extensive writings constitute, by far, the largest surviving corpus of any ancient author. This immense corpus is still not fully explored and continues to surprise scholars and to offer the possibility of new discoveries.This volume provides the first comprehensive analysis of his fierce critique of atomism, which is the most emblematic and disputed example of his polemical accounts, and demonstrates his reliability. It offers a close analysis of Galen’s account on atomism, contributing to the current debate on his role as a source on previous and contemporary philosophical and scientific thought, shedding new light on the still little-known relationship between Epicureanism and medicine. It additionally offers a new perspective on the debated question of the philosophical background of Asclepiades’ medical corpuscularism.Galen on the Atomists will appeal to students and scholars alike in ancient philosophy, classics, and history of ideas, as well as those studying history of science and medicine.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2025-12-24
Mått156 x 234 x 13 mm
Vikt530 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieGlobal Perspectives on the History of Natural Philosophy
Antal sidor186
FörlagTaylor & Francis Ltd
ISBN9781032869087

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Ambra Serangeli is a researcher in classics at Tor Vergata University of Rome, Italy, where she teaches history of ancient scientific thought. In 2020 she obtained her PhD in philosophy at the University of Oslo and is currently responsible for two research projects in the field of ancient medicine: The Human Body and the Environment: Ancient Medicine and Complex Adaptive Systems and Spaces and Places of Medicine in Imperial Rome (Next Generation EU-PNRR-Young Researchers funded project).

Part One: Galen’s Design Argument vs. Epicurean Evolution in De usu partium Chapter 1Genesis, Date and Aftermath of Galen’s De usu partiumChapter 2Galen and anatomy as evidence for Nature-demiurge’s provident designChapter 3The Epicurean theory of adaptation and the case of hand tendons in Galen’s De usu partiumChapter 4Two Notions of Suitability: Lucretius on suitable and monstrous bodies, and their adaptation by extinctionPart Two: Galen on Particles in De elementis secundum Hippocratem Chapter 5De elementis, date and contentsChapter 6Indivisibility and Immutability of the Atoms in De elementis6.1 Galen’s Use of ἕν and his Description of the Democritean Atom as an Eleatic One6.2 The Properties of the Atoms and the Overlap between Ancient Atomism and Epicureanism in Galen’s De elementisChapter 7The Reception of Atomism in the Late Authors. The Case of Galen’s De elementisChapter 8Galen against atomic impassibility. The ‛needle argument’ and its backgro8.1 Cicero’s Account8.2 Plutarch’s Testimony in Adversus ColotemPart Three: Atoms or Molecules? The Nature of Asclepiades’ ὄγκοι and the Background of his Flux Theory Chapter 9Nature and meaning of Asclepiades’ ὄγκοιChapter 10The ancient testimonies on the nature of Asclepiades’ ὄγκοι10.1 Galen’s account10.2 Sextus’ account10.3 Caelius Aurelianus’ account10.4 Calcidius’ accountChapter 11Asclepiades’ flux theory and the Epicurean doctrine of emanationsChapter 12Asclepiades and Lucretius on PathologyConclusionsBibliography