On the Therapeutic Method, Books I and II: On the Therapeutic Method/Books 1 and 11 (Clarendon Later Ancient Philosophers) - Hardcover

Galen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198244940 ISBN 13: 9780198244943

Publisher: Clarendon Press, 1991

Synopsis

Clarendon Later Ancient Philosophers

General Editors: Professor Jonathan Barnes, Balliol College, Oxford, and Professor A. A. Long, University of California, Berkeley

This series, which is modelled on the familiar Clarendon Aristotle and Clarendon Plato Series, is designed to encourage philosophers and students of philosophy to explore the fertile terrain of later ancient philosophy. The texts will range in date from the first century BC to the fifth century AD, and they will cover all the parts and all the schools of philosophy. Each volume will contain a substantial introduction, an English translation, and a critical commentary on the philosophical claims and arguments of the text. The translations will aim primarily at accuracy and fidelity; but they will also be readable and accompanied by notes on textual problems that affect the philosophical interpretation. No knowledge of Greek or Latin will be assumed.

Galen's On the Therapeutic Method, written late in his life, represents the distillation in its most complete form of Galen's views on the nature, genesis, proper classification, and treatment of disease. It was one of the most widely read of all classical texts during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and formed the core of the medical curriculum until the seventeenth century. Although still deeply influential in the nineteenth century, it has been unjustly neglected in modern times. The work contains a fascinating collection of views on scientific terminology and taxonomy, the application of the logical methods of collection and division to science, the axiomatization of science, and the structure of causation. Consequently it is a key text in later Greek philosophy of science.

R. J. Hankinson provides here the first translation into any modern language of the first two books, together with an introduction and a philosophical commentary.

About this title

Review

`an eloquent commentary, objections posed and counterposed, and strengths and weaknesses pointedly delineated.'Vivian Nutton, Times Literary Supplement

'Hankinson's English translation of the first two books of On the therapeutic method presents for the first time in a modern language Galen's own introduction to his nost complete treatise on diseases, their therapy and the theoretical problems involved. Hankinson submits Galen's views to a close logical scrutiny, as a result of which their strengths and weaknesses are highlighted. This painstaking work will surely stimulate further discussions.'Stefania Fortuna, Wellcome Institute, Medical History, 1992

'Oxford University Press's new series Clarendon Later Ancient Philosophers is designed to make later ancient philosophy accessible to students of philosophy ... It makes a good star with Galen, On the Therapeutic Method Books I and II ... the argument raises interesting points of scientific epistemology.'Greece & Rome, April 1993

`This very welcome translation of the first two books of Galen's De methodo medendi appears in the Clarendon Later Ancient Philosophers series ... Hankinson provides a brief introduction, including thoroughly-referenced summaries of Galen's life, philosophical outlook and medical background, as well as a good bibliography, a name index and a philosophically-oriented subject index ... The translation is a good one, and the commentary lively and informed ... philosophers and medical historians alike must be gratefulto Hankinson for bringing at least some of De methodo medendi to a wider audience of modern seekers after truth.'The Classical Review

Synopsis

One of the most widely read of all classical texts during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, this volume represents the distillation of Galenus' views on the nature, genesis, proper classification and treatment of disease.

Edition details

• Publisher: Clarendon Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0198244940
• ISBN 13: 9780198244943
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 312