Philosophical Perspectives on Galen of Pergamum: Four Case-Studies on Human Nature and the Relation between Body and Soul

Robert Vinkesteijn obtained his Ph.D. in Philosophy at Utrecht University in 2020 with the highest distinction. He has lectured at Utrecht and Leiden University, and has started a research project on melancholy in ancient and medieval thought at the Humboldt University of Berlin in 2022.

Contents


Acknowledgements


Abbreviations and Other Notes


Introduction





1 The Cultivation of the Soul in a ‘Physicalist’ World


 Ethical Philosophy in Galen’s QAM


 Introduction


 1 Aristotle and the Non-rational Parts of the Soul


 2 Plato and the Rational Part of the Soul


 3 Positioning in the Scholarly Debate


 4 The Possible Continuity in the Divine and Human Formation of the Bodily Mixture


 Conclusion





2 Galen on the Nature of Man


 Introduction


 1 The Primary Substance


 2 Divisio ad principes: a Hippocratic-Platonic Method


 3 Elements and Qualities


 4 Grades and Shades of Nature


 5 Nature of the Body, Nature of the Soul


 Conclusion





3 Soul, Mixture and Galen’s Timaeus


 Introduction


 1 Sources


 2 Scope of the Commentary


 3 Basic Tendencies in Galen’s Interpretation of the Timaeus


 4 Comparing Galen’s Timaeus to the Larrain Fragments


 Conclusion





4 Galen on Black Bile and Melancholy


 Introduction


 1 Precedents


 2 Galen on Black Bile


 3 Galen on Melancholy


 Conclusion on Black Bile and Melancholy





General Conclusion


Bibliography


Index