Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T03:33:28.080Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 13 - God and the Material World

Biology and Cosmology in Galen’s Physiology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2021

Ricardo Salles
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Get access

Summary

This chapter does not directly address the issue of the relations between biology and cosmology as such, although it refers in passing to Galen’s deployment of the microcosm/macroscosm model for the understanding of the nature of the human form and its relation to, indeed its mirroring of, the overall structure of the universe. But it does deal with how and why Galen thought that a proper understanding of the enormous complexity, goal-directedness, economy of animal and pre-eminently human structures demands explanation in terms of a providential, artistic and indeed aesthetically motived designer-god. That is, a proper understanding of the biosphere, and in particular of human physiology, demands a commitment to, and an understanding of, what Galen takes to be a fundamental cosmological fact, namely that the universe is indeed providentially ordered. The bulk of this chapter is devoted to teasing out in detail the nature and working-out of these fundamental commitments.

Type
Chapter
Information
Cosmology and Biology in Ancient Philosophy
From Thales to Avicenna
, pp. 224 - 244
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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
×