Galen on the Atomists

Personal physician of the emperors Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, and Septimius Severus, Galen was a multi-faceted intellectual and his extensive writings constitute, by far, the largest surviving corpus of any ancient author. This immense corpus is still not fully explored and continues to surprise scholars and to offer the possibility of new discoveries.

This volume provides the first comprehensive analysis of his fierce critique of atomism, which is the most emblematic and disputed example of his polemical accounts, and demonstrates his reliability. It offers a close analysis of Galen’s account on atomism, contributing to the current debate on his role as a source on previous and contemporary philosophical and scientific thought, shedding new light on the still little-known relationship between Epicureanism and medicine. It additionally offers a new perspective on the debated question of the philosophical background of Asclepiades’ medical corpuscularism.

Galen on the Atomists will appeal to students and scholars alike in ancient philosophy, classics, and history of ideas, as well as those studying history of science and medicine.