The philosophical aspects of Greek medicine are now more widely appreciated, not only by historians of science and medicine but also by students of philosophy in a more narrow sense. There has also been a greater appreciation of the fact that Greek medical writers not only reflect a derivative awareness of developments in philosophy but that they also actively contributed to the formation of philosophical thought more strictly defined, for instance by developing concepts and methodologies for the acquisition of knowledge (...) and understanding. Yet the consequences of this for a renewed study of the formation of Greek philosophy have yet to be drawn; and disciplinary boundaries between historians of medicine on the one hand and philosophers and historians of philosophy on the other still pose obstacles to an integrated account of Greek thought that takes on board the contributions by the medical writers. Some preliminary remarks may therefore be in order. (shrink)

In De alimentorum facultatibus, Book I, Ch. 1, Galen begins his discussion of the powers of foodstuffs by a rough sketch of the opinions of earlier physicians on this subject. He says that according to some of them these powers are only known on the basis of experience , according to others on the basis of a combination of experience and reasoning , whereas a third group gave priority of importance to reasoning . Galen proceeds to say that there is (...) considerable disagreement between these physicians on the topic in question and that, consequently, an unbiased testing of their opinions is necessary; this testing should operate by means of argumentation . Now there are two different starting-points for argumentation, i.e. perception and ‘distinct thinking’ . Then the text printed by Helmreich runs as follows: κα μς ναγκαν στιν ἢ θατρ τοτων ἢ μφοτροις χρσασθαι πρς τν το προκειμνου σκμματος ερεσιν: ‘It is necessary for us, too, to use either one of these or both of them in order to find the question under discussion.’. (shrink)

In De alimentorum facultatibus, Book I, Ch. 1, Galen begins his discussion of the powers of foodstuffs by a rough sketch of the opinions of earlier physicians on this subject. He says that according to some of them these powers are only known on the basis of experience, according to others on the basis of a combination of experience and reasoning, whereas a third group gave priority of importance to reasoning. Galen proceeds to say that there is considerable disagreement between (...) these physicians on the topic in question and that, consequently, an unbiased testing of their opinions is necessary; this testing should operate by means of argumentation. Now there are two different starting-points for argumentation, i.e. perception and ‘distinct thinking’. Then the text printed by Helmreich runs as follows: κα μς ναγκαῖν στιν ἢ θατρῳ τοτων ἢ μφοτροις χρσασθαι πρς τν το προκειμνου σκμματος εὕρεσιν: ‘It is necessary for us, too, to use either one of these or both of them in order to find the question under discussion.’. (shrink)