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Galen and astrology: a Mésalliance?
1Department of History, 2103 JFSB, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA. glen_cooper@byu.edu
Early Science and Medicine
|September 2, 2011
Summary
Galen
Area of Science:
- Historical medicine
- Ancient philosophy
- History of science
Background:
- Examines Galen's engagement with astrology in "De diebus decretoriis" (Critical Days).
- Analyzes critical astrological passages in Galen's work.
- Investigates the superficiality of Galen's astrological understanding.
Discussion:
- Conducts a lexical analysis of Galen's corpus for astrological terms.
- Compares Galen's astrological methods with Ptolemy's "Tetrabiblos".
- Evaluates differing scientific reasoning strategies in ancient astrology.
Key Insights:
- Galen's empirical science is independent of astrological concepts.
- Astrological elements in Galen's work served rhetorical purposes.
- Galen's medical methodology was presented using astrological rhetoric.
Outlook:
- Galen's rhetorical use of astrology may have obscured his empirical scientific method.
- Re-evaluating Galen's scientific contributions beyond his astrological discussions.
- Future research should focus on Galen's empirical methodology.
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