Galen and the World of Knowledge (Greek Culture in the Roman World)

Galen is the most important medical writer in Graeco-Roman antiquity, and also extremely valuable for understanding Graeco-Roman thought and society in the second century AD. This volume of new essays locates him firmly in the intellectual life of his period, and thus aims to make better sense of the medical and philosophical 'world of knowledge' that he tries to create. How did Galen present himself as a reader and an author in comparison with other intellectuals of his day? Above all, how did he fashion himself as a medical practitioner, and how does that self-fashioning relate to the performance culture of second-century Rome? Did he see medicine as taking over some of the traditional roles of philosophy? These and other questions are freshly addressed by leading international experts on Galen and the intellectual life of the period, in a stimulating collection that combines learning with accessibility. 0521767512,9780521767514,0511769830,9780511769832 Half-title 3 Series title 4 Title 5 Copyright 6 Contents 7 Notes on contributors 9 Note on conventions 11 (a) 12 (b) 14 Preface 19 Introduction 21 Galen as an intellectual in his cultural context 21 The focus and themes of this volume 27 Chapter 1 Galen’s library 39 The destruction of galen’s library 39 Our knowledge of galen’s library 40 Galen the allusionist 43 Intermediary sources 47 Galen’s choice of authors 50 Galen’s use of his library 53 Chapter 2 Conventions of prefatory self-presentation in Galen’s On the Order of My Own Books 55 Compilatory writing in the roman empire 55 Writing for friends 60 Writing for friends in nicomachus’ encheiridion 65 Writing for friends in quintilian’s orator’s education 67 Reluctant composition and social comment in galen’s on the order of my own books 70 Chapter 3 Demiurge and Emperor in Galen’s world of knowledge 79 Introducing galen’s demiurge 80 First appearances, development and impact 81 Rhetoric and authority in on the function of the parts 86 Epistemology 90 Analysing galen’s demiurge 91 Hippocrates and plato 92 Aristotle and the stoics 96 Causing galen’s demiurge 102 Chapter 4 Shock and awe: the performance dimension of Galen’s anatomy demonstrations 105 Galen’s anatomical performances 105 Anatomy contests 108 Anatomy and wonderworking competitions 120 Blood and force (reading between the lines) 122 Layers of meaning in anatomical display 125 Seeking truth from bodies: the criminal interrogation 126 Anatomy and the arena 128 Rhetorics of anatomy 130 Chapter 5 Galen’s un-Hippocratic case-histories 135 Chapter 6 Staging the past, staging oneself: Galen on Hellenistic exegetical traditions 152 Introduction 152 Staging the exegetical past: 'private’ and 'public’ 155 Galen's world of hellenistic scholarship: 'ancient’ manuscripts, editions, commentaries, variants, corrections, emendations and commentators 164 Prolixity and silence 170 Chapter 7 Galen and Hippocratic medicine: language and practice 177 Attic and non-attic words in galen’s commentaries 179 Dialect, spoken language, asian usage 186 Local usages and local words in the pharmacological treatises 190 Chapter 8 Galen’s bios and methodos: from ways of life to path of knowledge 195 Walking on two legs 196 Individual life and methodos 197 Way of life and methodos 198 Lifetime and the methodos 200 Appearance and being 201 The best doctor is also the best of all men 205 Conclusion 208 Chapter 9 Does Galen have a medical programme for intellectuals and the faculties of the intellect? 210 The intellectual faculties and the intellect defined 212 Inclusion in the medical sphere? 216 The benefits of regimen 220 Chapter 10 Galen on the limitations of knowledge 226 Introduction 226 The notion of proof 228 The benefits of logical theory 230 Perceptions, inductions and examples 234 The value of senses and reason 239 The 'logical methods’ 242 Obvious truth and the absence of plausible alternatives 245 Applications and limitations of the model 248 Endeixis 251 Implications 253 Coda: Galen and the World of Knowledge 258 Chapter 11 Galen and Middle Platonism 263 The genesis of the world 264 Epistemology and the limits of knowledge 272 Chapter 12 'Aristotle! What a thing for you to say!’ 281 Introduction 281 Galen’s appropriations of aristotelian thought 284 Galen’s strategies in presenting his intellectual pedigree 289 Galen’s evaluations of aristotelian thought 292 Aristotle versus the aristotelians 296 Conclusions 299 Chapter 13 Galen and the Stoics, or: the art of not naming 302 Aim and method 302 Galen’s education 304 The stoics of rome 306 The second roman period 309 The stoic emperor 314 Stoic books 316 Conclusion 318 Bibliography 320 Index 343 Machine generated contents note: Introduction Christopher Gill, Tim Whitmarsh and John Wilkins: 1. Galen's library Vivian Nutton; 2. Conventions of prefatory self-presentation in Galen's On the Order of My Own Books Jason König; 3. Demiurge and emperor in Galen's world of knowledge Rebecca Flemming; 4. Shock and awe: the performance dimension of Galen's anatomy demonstrations Maud Gleason; 5. Galen's un-Hippocratic case-histories G. E. R. Lloyd; 6. Staging the past, staging oneself: Galen on Hellenistic exegetical traditions Heinrich von Staden; 7. Galen and Hippocratic medicine: language and practice Daniela Manetti; 8. Galen's Bios and Methodos: from ways of life to paths of knowledge Ve;ronique Boudon-Millot; 9. Does Galen have a medical programme for intellectuals and the faculties of the intellect? Jacques Jouanna; 10. Galen on the limitations of knowledge R. J. Hankinson; 11. Galen and Middle Platonism Riccardo Chiaradonna; 12. 'Aristotle! What a thing for you to say!' Galen's engagement with Aristotle and Aristotelians Philip van der Eijk; 13. Galen and the Stoics, or: the art of not naming Teun Tieleman. "This volume of new essays is based on a conference with the same title held at the University of Exeter in 2005. All those speaking on that occasion have written chapters in this volume, along with Riccardo Chiaradonna whose chapter has been specially prepared for the volume. The aim of this volume, like the conference on which it is based, is to contribute to the upsurge of new research on Galen by focusing on a topic that bridges the interests of specialists in ancient medical history and Classicists and philosophers more generally. The conference also represents the convergence of two current focuses of research in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Exeter, on ancient medicine especially Galen and on Hellenistic and Imperial Greek culture more generally"--Provided by publisher.