Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-hfldf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-21T17:56:08.464Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 10 - Galen and Middle Platonists on Dialectic and Knowledge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2018

Thomas Bénatouïl
Affiliation:
Université de Lille
Katerina Ierodiakonou
Affiliation:
Université de Genève
Get access

Summary

Three senses of ‘dialectic’ can be discerned in Galen's works (section 10.1): (1) Dialectic as logic, i.e., analysis and techniques of arguments. (2) Dialectic as a part of logic that focuses on certain kinds of arguments characterized by the status of their premisses, which are different from scientific ones. (3) Dialectic as the analysis of names or words and their meanings in ordinary language. Galen’s account of logic and dialectic presents similarities and differences with Alcinous' and Alexander, but is distinctively connected to his views about the epistemic status of medicine. Section 10.2 focuses on Galen’s discussion of Aristotle’s eternalist cosmology, in book 4 of his lost treatise On Demonstration. It is similar to that of the Platonist Atticus but highly original: it can be seen as a discussion pro et contra the eternity of the cosmos, showing the fallacies of speculative knowledge. The third section focuses on Galen’s account of common notions and definitions. It is compared with that of Stoic and Platonist philosophers. Once again, Galen’s account appears to be distinctively connected to his views about the characteristics and scope of scientific knowledge.
Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×