Galen on the Atomists

Anti-teleologism, Theory of Matter and Medical Corpuscularism

Ambra Serangeli

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040803615
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Greek Ancient History

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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Part I Galen’s Design Argument vs. Epicurean Evolution in De usu partium
• 1 Genesis, Date, and Aftermath of Galen’s De usu partium
• 2 Galen and Anatomy as Evidence for Nature–Demiurge’s Provident Design
• 3 The Epicurean Theory of Adaptation and the Case of Hand Tendons in Galen’s De usu partium
• 4 Two Notions of Suitability: Lucretius on Suitable and Monstrous Bodies, and Their Adaptation by Extinction1
• Part II Galen on Particles in De elementis secundum Hippocratem
• 5 De elementis: Date and Contents
• 6 Indivisibility and Immutability of the Atoms in De elementis
• 7 The Reception of Atomism in the Late Authors. The Case of Galen’s De elementis
• 8 Galen against Atomic Impassibility: The ‘Needle Argument’ and Its Background
• Part III Atoms or Molecules? The Nature of Asclepiades’ ὄγκοι and the Background of His Flux Theory
• 9 Nature and Meaning of Asclepiades’ ὄγκοι
• 10 The Ancient Testimonies on the Nature of Asclepiades’ ὄγκοι
• 11 Asclepiade’s Flux Theory and the Epicurean Doctrine of Emanations
• 12 Asclepiades and Lucretius on Pathology
• Conclusions
• Bibliography
• Index of Names
• Index of Main Topics