Description: Aristotle had a decisive impact on the development of ancient medicine. He and his followers conducted a dialogue about life and living beings, body and soul, and health and disease with doctors from the Classical period down to late antiquity: interlocutors who included key figures like Galen and the Hippocratic commentator Stephanus of Alexandria. Philip van der Eijk's magisterial and attractively written book describes and analyses this dialogue and argues that Aristotle strategically positioned himself within these discussions while making important and innovative contributions to them. The author further uncovers unpublished evidence showing how Aristotle's philosophy itself - and also the way it was elaborated by its later advocates and exegetes - was influenced by its close engagement with medical theory and practice. This important and much-anticipated book will transform both the study of Aristotle and his followers and that of Greek and Roman medicine.
Brief description: Philip J. van der Eijk is Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Classics and History of Science at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. He is regarded as one of the world's leading experts in the study of ancient medicine, the recipient of a number of prestigious awards, and is a member of several learned academies. With Cambridge University Press, he has published Medicine and Philosophy in Classical Antiquity (2005), and he is editor of the series Cambridge Galen Translations.
Review Quotes: 'The work of the leading scholar in the field of ancient medicine today, Professor van der Eijk, is always of the highest quality. Here he shows how the influence of Aristotle extended into many areas of ancient thought particularly in medicine. His insights challenge many traditional interpretations and introduce many unfamiliar thinkers to a wider audience.' Vivian Nutton, Emeritus Professor of the History of Medicine, University College London