Galen: On Diseases and Symptoms

A 2006 translation of four treatises by Galen on the classification and causation of diseases and symptoms.

Galen (Author), Ian Johnston (Edited and translated by)

9780521865883, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 November 2006

346 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.7 kg

Galen's treatises on the classification and causation of diseases and symptoms are an important component of his prodigious oeuvre, forming a bridge between his theoretical works and his practical, clinical writings. As such, they remained an integral component of the medical teaching curriculum well into the second millennium. This edition was originally published in 2006. In these four treatises (only one of which had been previously translated into English), Galen not only provides a framework for the exhaustive classification of diseases and their symptoms as a prelude to his analysis of their causation, but he also attempts to establish precise definitions of all the key terms involved. Unlike other of his works, these treatises are notably moderate in tone, taking into account different views on structure and causation in a relatively even-handed way. Nonetheless, they are a clear statement of the Dogmatic position on the theoretical foundations of medicine in his time.

Part I. Introduction: 1. General introduction
2. Galen's life and works
3. Galen's philosophical and medical antecedents
4. Definitions and terminology: i. Definitions
ii. Causal terms
iii. General terms
iv. Diseases and symptoms
v. Conclusions
5. The classification of diseases and symptoms: i. Introduction
ii. Diseases (de morborum differentiis)
iii. Symptoms (de symptomatum differentiis)
iv. Conclusions
6. Causation in diseases and symptoms: i. Introduction
ii. Theories of disease causation prior to Galen
iii. Galen on causation
iv. Conclusions
Part II. Translation: Introduction
1. On the differentiae of diseases
2. On the causes of diseases
3. On the differentiae of symptoms
4. On the causes of symptoms I
5. On the causes of symptoms II
6. On the causes of symptoms III
Part III. Conclusions
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA]