{"title":"The Discovery of chreia: Galen’s Method of Teleological Demonstration and Its Aristotelian Background","authors":"Matyáš Havrda","doi":"10.1163/15733823-20240097","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The paper explores Galen’s notion of the <em>chreia</em> of bodily parts and activities, and the method of its discovery against the Aristotelian background. It argues that the <em>chreia</em> of an object <styled-content lang=\"el-Grek\" xmlns:dc=\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\" xmlns:ifp=\"http://www.ifactory.com/press\">π</styled-content> (a bodily part or activity) is a connection between the activity <styled-content lang=\"el-Grek\" xmlns:dc=\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\" xmlns:ifp=\"http://www.ifactory.com/press\">ε</styled-content> for the sake of which <styled-content lang=\"el-Grek\" xmlns:dc=\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\" xmlns:ifp=\"http://www.ifactory.com/press\">π</styled-content> has come into existence, and the attributes of <styled-content lang=\"el-Grek\" xmlns:dc=\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\" xmlns:ifp=\"http://www.ifactory.com/press\">π</styled-content> without which <styled-content lang=\"el-Grek\" xmlns:dc=\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\" xmlns:ifp=\"http://www.ifactory.com/press\">ε</styled-content> would cease to exist or would not be as good. The discovery of <em>chreia</em>, then, is an explanation of this connection. Aristotle does not use the word ‘<em>chreia</em>’ in this sense, but in <em>Parts of Animals</em> he employs a partly overlapping notion which he calls ‘<em>ergon</em>’. Finally, the paper points out that Galen’s <em>chreia</em> is equivalent to the middle term of teleological demonstrations, as outlined in Aristotle’s <em>Posterior Analytics</em> <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">II</span> 11.</p>","PeriodicalId":49081,"journal":{"name":"Early Science and Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Early Science and Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15733823-20240097","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The paper explores Galen’s notion of the chreia of bodily parts and activities, and the method of its discovery against the Aristotelian background. It argues that the chreia of an object π (a bodily part or activity) is a connection between the activity ε for the sake of which π has come into existence, and the attributes of π without which ε would cease to exist or would not be as good. The discovery of chreia, then, is an explanation of this connection. Aristotle does not use the word ‘chreia’ in this sense, but in Parts of Animals he employs a partly overlapping notion which he calls ‘ergon’. Finally, the paper points out that Galen’s chreia is equivalent to the middle term of teleological demonstrations, as outlined in Aristotle’s Posterior AnalyticsII 11.
期刊介绍:
Early Science and Medicine (ESM) is a peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to the history of science, medicine and technology from the earliest times through to the end of the eighteenth century. The need to treat in a single journal all aspects of scientific activity and thought to the eighteenth century is due to two factors: to the continued importance of ancient sources throughout the Middle Ages and the early modern period, and to the comparably low degree of specialization and the high degree of disciplinary interdependence characterizing the period before the professionalization of science.