Medicine and Practical Ethics in Galen

Provides the first authoritative study of Galen's moralising discourse in relation to and beyond his proficiency in medicine.

Offering the first authoritative analysis of Galen's psychological and ethical works alongside a large number of technical tracts, both medical and philosophical, this book provides a new framework through which we can comprehend Galen's role as a practical ethicist - an aspect of his intellectual profile that has been little understood until now.Galen was notable in the ancient world for his creative intermingling of medicine and practical ethics. This book is the first authoritative analysis of Galen's psychological and ethical works alongside a large number of his technical tracts, both medical and philosophical, and offers a robust framework through which we can comprehend his role as a practical ethicist - an aspect of his intellectual profile that has been little understood until now. Sophia Xenophontos explores a wide range of literature on moralia in the Roman imperial period, as well as topics including the pathology of emotions, the social role of medicine, and character formation and social ethics, to show the sophisticated and complex ways in which moral themes and controversies from antiquity were adapted and reinvigorated by Galen. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.