The Fight for Health
Tradition, Competition, Subdivision and Philosophy in Galen's Hygienic Writings
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23198773 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter Nicholas Singer |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 974-995 |
| Publication date | 2014-09-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal for the History of Philosophy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0960-8788 • E-ISSN: 1469-3526 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09608788.2014.992856 |
| OpenAlex | W1986301765 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 14 |
The paper examines the conception of health of the Graeco-Roman medical and philosophical author Galen. On the basis of a range of texts, especially Matters of Health (De sanitate tuenda) and Thrasybulus, the most significant and influential characteristics of this conception are considered: the twofold definition of health in terms of balance (summetria) of elements and of organic function; the notion of a latitude (platos) within health; the extent to which health is conceived as a specialist expertise, and against this the possible role of the patient in understanding his/her own health. Galen's health writings are also considered in their social-historical context (to what extent his theory of health is only applicable to a narrow elite; what is the nature of his polemic against other, rival health practitioners; the original oral-debate nature of the texts and the implied relationship of expert to audience) and in relation to their intellectual predecessors – Hippocrates, Plato, Aristotle and a range of other, e.g. Hellenistic, medical writers. Particular significance is found in Galen's adoption of philosophical (especially Platonic and Aristotelian models) in his self-presentation.
Art · Competition (biology) · Context (archaeology) · Elite · Epistemology · Function (biology) · Literature · Political science · Politics · Presentation (obstetrics) · Relation (database) · Sociology · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · History of Medicine Studies · Law · Medicine · Philosophy
Herophilus
Tradition and truth. Forms of philosophical-scientific historiography in Galen’s De placitis
The Lost Theory of Asclepiades of Bithynia
Shock and awe
Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy
Philosophy of nature
Epistemology
The Hippocratic Tradition
Pores and Void in Asclepiades’ Physical Theory
Levels of explanation in Galen
Menodoto di Nicomedia
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |