© 2015 Irina Viktorovna PROLYGINA
2015 – №2 (10)
Key words: Galen of Pergamum, scientific medicine, medical method, classification of diseases, symptoms, nature of diseases, diagnosis logic, therapy, apotherapy
Abstract: The article presents the reconstruction of the therapeutic doctrine of Galen, within the framework of which he addresses the medical tradition of his predecessors and at the same time modifies it and the theoretical method. The starting point of the study of Galen’s views was his two treatises – De methodo medendi and Ad Glauconem de methodo medendi, in which his theory is stated most systematically. As a key definition of the Galen theory of therapy, the concept of a “method” is considered, which is a combination of theoretical knowledge and their practical application. It is shown that the classification of diseases and their symptoms by Galen, as well as his views on prevention and a healthy lifestyle are in many respects similar to the ancient medical tradition. However, Galen developed his own method of medicine, based on the principles of rationality and a logical approach to diagnosis and treatment of diseases. A clear definition of terms, an understanding of the nature and importance of cause and effect relations, a detailed classification of diseases and their symptoms, the doctrine of the types and pathologies of physiological imbalance allow us to talk about a new “scientific” stage in ancient medicine, which was further developed in the Middle Ages.
Note:
* The article is also published in the paper edition:
Meditsinskaia antropologiia: kul’tura i zdorov’e. Sb. statei / otv. red. V.I. Kharitonova; In-t etnologii i antropologii im. N.N. Miklukho-Maklaia RAN; Assotsiatsiia meditsinskikh antropologov. – M.: IEA RAN, 2016. (Trudy po meditsinskoi antropologii). [Medical Anthropology: Culture and Health. Collection of articles / Ed. V.I. Kharitonova; Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology named after N.N. Miklouho-Maclay RAS; Association of Medical Anthropologists. – Moscow: IEA RAS, 2016. (Works on medical anthropology).]
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