Galen Strawson’s Basic Argument is an attempt to prove that no agent can meet the demands for true moral responsibility. The Basic Argument proceeds on the assumption that, in order for an agent to be truly morally responsible for her actions, she must be truly responsible for her reasons for performing those actions, which Strawson contends is impossible since it requires an infinite regress of truly responsible decisions to have the reasons one has. In my thesis, I take issue with the Basic Argument. I argue that, contrary to Strawson’s claims, the Basic Argument is not persuasive to those who reject that one’s reasons cause one’s actions. For those who are willing to overlook this shortcoming, I then argue that it is possible for an agent to evade the threat of infinite regress, particularly in situations where two simultaneous choices (at least partially) explain each other.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Philosophy, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 173-177).

This dissertation examines Galen of Pergamon's text On Anatomical Procedures (De anatomicis administrationibus) and considers its audience and purpose. The first chapter presents the audience of the text as Galen perceived it; I use Galen's explicit rhetoric about his readers to paint a picture of his ideal envisioned audience and then measure this against the concrete expectations that he conveys through the explicit and implicit prerequisites he demands of his readers. The second chapter, by contrast, makes strides towards uncovering the actual audience of the work by examining the ramifications of Galen's expectation that his readers will actively participate in the studies he describes; I study the availability of the books, tools, and animals that he expects his audience to be able to purchase, in order to understand the financial and social implications. The third chapter considers the text itself, taking into account the manner and timing of its composition, Galen's linguistic choices vis-à-vis his audience, and the details of his specific directions; I use this analysis to define the nature of the text and how the audience was expected to interact with it, thus necessarily engaging with the norms in ancient medical education and the role that books found there. The fourth and final chapter compares the text to his other anatomical writings, particularly his more descriptive and philosophically oriented treatise, De usu partium, as a final way to determine the purpose of this highly unusual work and its place both in his oeuvre and in its contemporary environment. / The Classics

Thesis (doctoral)--l'Ecole Pratique des Hautes Études [France], 1997. / Title from Summary page ; description based on resource as of 2005-06-17. Thèse pour le Doctorat de l'Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, IVe section. Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation is a study of the differing explanatory criteria used for the assessment of epistemic medical claims, particularly anatomical claims, in the work of Galen of Pergamum (129-c. 216 CE). It focuses on Galen's use of anatomy and anatomical exegesis to position himself in relation to the various medical sects or haireseis active in the Late Roman Empire. Consequent on the emergence of invasive anatomical investigations in the early Hellenistic period (3rd cent. BCE), the explanatory and therapeutic value of anatomical information came to be a defining characteristic of competing medical sects. The Empiricists, who, we are told, were reacting to what they believed was the theoretical promiscuity of other medical thinkers, took their name from their reliance on experience rather than theory, the latter a methodological commitment they attributed to other medical thinkers whom they grouped under the broad category of Dogmatists. This sensitivity to theoretical claims is apparent from the fact that the Empiricists eschewed anatomical dissections, on the grounds that they required analogical moves from structures in corpses to structures in living creatures. If Galen is to be taken at his word, by the second century CE, sectarian disputes between the medical sects had risen to a fever pitch. Galen, who was at pains to make a place for his own medical beliefs in this debate, stresses the need for explanatory theoretical accounts of the body and things relevant to its biological function but also insists that these theoretical accounts be based in empirical observations. One of the arguments he must overcome is the problem of anatomical analogy, raised by the Empiricists. Galen not only engages with this issue from an abstract point of view but, this dissertation argues, he engages with it through the narrative structure of his anatomical accounts throughout his work and especially in his procedural anatomical handbook, De Anatomicis Administrationibus. Historically, this treatise has either been ignored by scholars or studied as a technical treatise that lacks in artifice. This dissertation questions this approach and considers the argumentative role of Galen's anatomical exegesis in the debate over the explanatory value of anatomy in Greco-Roman medicine. It takes as one of its main focuses, Galen's accounts of elephantine anatomy. It argues that these accounts are governed by different norms of assertion, which do not place the same premium on accurate reporting of anatomical detail, from the surrounding anatomical narrative in De Anatomicis Administrationibus. To that end, it shows the need for a more nuanced reading of fachprosa, such as Galen's anatomical work, than these texts have historically received. / text

Das Thema der vorliegenden Dissertation ist die Theorie und Terminologie der Mischung nach Galen. Im ersten Teil, der sich aus den ersten zwei Hauptkapiteln zusammensetzt, werden die historischen und theoretischen Quellen für Galens Modell zur Mischung der Primärelemente (das Warme, das Kalte, das Trockene und das Feuchte) und sein System der neun Mischungen (acht schlechte Mischungen und eine gute Mischung, in der keine Qualität überwiegt). Im ersten Hauptkapitel illustriere ich im Gegensatz zu den bisherigen konträren wissenschaftlichen Meinungen, dass Galens Modell zur Mischung der Primärelemente eine klare innere Logik aufweist und von der peripatetischen Naturphilosophie des 2. Jahrhunderts unserer Zeitrechnung beeinflusst wird. Dabei entbehrt es keinesfalls des „archaischen“ hippokratischen Ansatzes. Im zweiten Hauptkapitel der Dissertation analysiere ich die historischen und theoretischen Quellen von Galens Theorie der neun Mischungen. Genauer gesagt zeige ich in diesem Kapitel auf, dass Galens Theorie im Gegensatz zu bisherigen Gelehrtenmeinungen nicht vollständig von dem System der neun Mischungen abhängt, das die Pneumatiker entwickelt haben. In der Tat beruht Galens Modell auf einer anderen – peripatetischen – Elementartheorie. Im Gegensatz zur pneumatischen Medizin ist dieses Modell der neun Mischungen in seinem allgemeinen Weltbild fest verankert. Im zweiten Teil dieser Dissertation, der dem dritten Hauptkapitel entspricht, setze ich mich mit Galens Terminologie der Mischung und genauer gesagt mit seiner Verwendung der Begriffe krasis und mixis auseinander. Im Gegensatz zu vorherigen wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten, die besagen, dass der Unterschied von den Bestandteilen abhänge (krasis wäre eine Mischung von Qualitäten, während mixis eine Mischung von Substanzen wäre), zeige ich, dass der Unterschied zwischen krasis und mixis in der Phase des Prozesses und in dem Grad der Wiedererkennbarkeit der Bestandteile liegt. / The present dissertation aimed at studying the theory and the terminology of mixture in Galen. The first part, which is composed of the first two main chapters, intended to examine the historical and theoretical sources of Galen’s model of mixture of primary elements (the hot, the cold, the dry and the wet) and of its system of nine mixtures (eight bad mixtures and one good mixture, where no quality predominates). In the first main chapter, I illustrated that, differently from the conflicting views expressed so far by the previous scholarship, Galen’s model of mixture of primary elements shows a clear internal logic and comes under the sway of the Peripatetic natural philosophy of the 2nd century CE, while in no way renouncing, on the other hand, the “archaic” Hippocratic background. In the second main chapter of the dissertation I analysed the historical and theoretical sources of Galen’s scheme of nine mixtures. More precisely, in this chapter we pointed out that, differently from what has been said by previous scholarship, although the Pneumatists developed a system of nine mixtures, Galen’s is not entirely dependent on it insofar as Galen’s relies on a different – Peripatetic – elemental theory and, differently from Pneumatic medicine, this scheme of nine mixtures is embedded in Galen’s general world view. In the second part of the thesis, which corresponds to the third main chapter, I have dealt with Galen’s terminology of mixture and, more precisely, with his usage of the terms krasis and mixis. Differently from the previous scholarship according to which the difference would depend on the constituents (krasis would be a mixture of qualities whereas mixis a mixture of substances), I have showed that the difference between krasis and mixis lies in the stage of the process and in the degree of recognisability of the constituents.

This thesis focuses on the startling ways in which a significant number of early Christian hagiographies feature saints with rotting flesh and suppurative wounds. It explores this phenomenon first by considering ancient medical understandings of diseases such as phagedenic ulcers, gangrene, and the production of pus as evidence of humoural imbalances requiring medical intervention. Then it considers reasons why early Christians developed more positive attitudes regarding these conditions. These include associating rotting flesh with superior spiritual fortitude. They also include non-theological reasons for this phenomenon. This thesis hypothesizes that early Christians also enjoyed looking at rotting saints out of a voyeuristic desire to gaze upon otherwise hidden bodies. Furthermore, it argues that Christians enjoyed exposing themselves to feelings of fear and anxiety because of the neurochemical dimensions the experience stimulated. / May 2017

This thesis examines the influence of Galen (b. 129 AD) on medicine in England between 1618 and 1794, approaching the study of his authority and the use of his work through three case-studies: histories of medicine, pharmacology, and surgery. The histories of medicine illustrate the variety of ways in which Galen is referred to, both as a historical figure, and as an ongoing contemporary influence. His importance in terms of accessing the knowledge of the ancients, and as a fixed point in time around which to discuss the history of medicine, and to situate other practitioners over a broad time period, underlines the significance of his role within medicine. Similarly, the pharmacological texts examined provide a more tangible sense of the influence of Galen, and their varied, but formulaic structures enable specific remedies to be traced over time and their corresponding associations and details compared between different editions. Identifying the role of Galen within surgical treatises also allows for a more theoretical aspect of surgery to be explored, providing a different perspective on an area more frequently portrayed as a manual art. The use of Galenic texts within each case-study, in particular the histories of medicine, demonstrates a significant and nuanced engagement with the content of his works, reiterating the importance of his contribution, and showing the value ascribed to the simplicity offered by past approaches. It is evident that a shift had occurred from the acceptance of ancient authority based on convention, to evaluating the simplicity and utility of information on an individual basis. The value ascribed to utility in the assessment of medical knowledge is evident throughout these texts, which also demonstrate the importance of the experience and observations of the practitioner in facilitating the ongoing and significant use of the influence of Galen.

Texte remanié de : Dissertation (doctoral) : Ruhr-Universität Bochum : 1999. / Textes en allemand, arabe, et anglais. Bibliogr. p. 291-294.

This report examines the sectarian backdrop for Galen of Pergamum's medical epistemology. It considers the justificatory role that experience (empeiria) and theoretical accounts (logoi) play in Empiricist and Dogmatist epistemology in an attempt to track how Galen incorporates experience into theoretical accounts as a means by which to undergird them. Finally, it briefly considers the exiguous evidence for Methodism, Galen's main medical rivals in the Roman world and claims that Galen forges a middle path between these sects. / text