philosophy, biology and medicine in the ancient world part 2 Flashcards
Socartes, Plato and Aristotle represented what?
a sharp shift from the purely natural curisity of the lonian philosophers, towards more human centered and theological interests.
Aristotle was the most influential philosopher and scientist in history, when was he alive?
384-322 BC
where was Aristotle born?
macedonia
what was Aristotle father?
physician; Aristotle was instructed in the Asclepiad tradition
when and why did Aristotle go to athens?
at 17 to learn philosophy at Plato;s Academy; stayed 20 years but left in anger dissapointed not to be named Plato’s successor as the head of the Acadamy
what and where did Aristotle study?
biology on the island of Lesbos
why did Aristotle leave lesbos? what did he do when he left?
fled due to revolution
returened to Macedonia and tutored the prince for several years
when he retured to Athens in 334 what did Aristotle do?
established his own school, the Lyceum
why did Aristotle have to flee Athens?
he was suspected of impiety
died in exle on the island of Chalcis
Aristotle teacher and colleage Plato had no interest in what?
in the natural world itself, only in abstract ideas and theology
Ernst Mayr accused Plato of doing what?
impeding the progress of biology for over 2000 years,
What are Platos theory of the universe?
there exist changeless, eternal, ideal forms. Objects in our world are imperfect reflections of these forms
what was another harmful view of Plato to the development of biology?
his belief in Teleological explinations (explanation by inteded purpose, especially divinely
how much of Aristotle writings survived?
1/4
what were Aristotle modifications of Platos idelism?
forms are ideas, and they are in the world not outside it
potentiality + form = actuality
matter is potentiality; form gives matter reality.
Art analogy - lump of bronze and statue
What was Aristotle’s view of livng things?
heavily teleological, like plato’s “nature does nothing without a purpose” the porpose of something was its “final cause”
what were Aristotle’s views of the laws which govern nature?
the laws which govern nature are not in nature itself; they are imposed by divine intelligence
what are Aristotle’s systematics? (groups)
he never tried to establish a formal classification of things, but he understood that natural groups existed
Aristotle thought anatomy should be what?
comparative
what view did Aristotle accept concerning human neuroanatomy?
he accepted the erroneous view of the early hippocratics that the brain cools the blood and produces mucus
what did Aristotle thing about the heart?
heart is the organ of soul and intelligence
Aristotle’s view on the gut
it is where Food is “cooked”
Aristotle’s conception of nature?
Geocentric
Everything has purpose
Form dominance
Physics- thought everything had natural place
Aristotle founded what?
natural history
what did Aristotle’s approach take from plato that is view negatively
plato’s Essentialism, he did not imagine any kind of evolutionary change
the library and museum of alexandria was ruled by who?
Ptolemy the first was a general in alexanders army and came to rule Egypt and Alexandria
The library possessed how many scrolls?
700,000
the museum was more of what in the modern sense?
a university
who were Herophilus and Erasistratus?
were both physicians and anatomists at Alexandria
what were Herophilus and Erasistratus accused of?
performing vivisections on chriminals but this is not proven
what was Herophilus and Erasistratus view of Blood?
blood was synthesized from food and is distributed in the veins
was was Herophilus and Erasistratus view on Pneuma (spirit) and muscle movement
that the Pneuma is replenished by respiration. Vital pneuma is carried by the arteries to the brain. Here the vital Pneuma is converted into animal spirits, which are carried by the hollow nerves to the muscles. In muscles the inrush of animal spirits causes muscle movement
Herophilus and Erasistratus view on veins and arteries?
they are dead end canals through which blood and pneuma seep into the tissue
Herophilus believed the beating heart trnasmitted what?
pulsations to the arteries; both veins and arteries carry blood
what was Erasistratus view on arteries?
that they have blood only when it seeps from the tissues into the arteries, pathologically
Roman Encyclopedism
what were the romans interested in?
civic duty and practical subjects, not scientific research. did very little to extend the science done by the Greeks
what were the two lives of Pliny the Elder?
one in the service of roman society and the roman state( lawyer, civial administrator, millitary officer)
two in the service of scholarship
Pliny wrote what?
a 37 volume encyclopedia; NATURAL HISTORY.
what did Celsus do?
he wrote a large encyclopedia of which only the portion on medicine (De medicina) survived
what did Celsus believe?
Following the hippocrates that surgeons should assist nature
De Medicina written by Celsus was one of the first what?
first medical books to be printed after the invention of printing
Galen of Peramon (AD 130-200)
Galen was what?
one of the most influential medical writers of all time, physician, surgeon
early in Galens career he was what?
a surgeon at the Gladiatorial school at Pergamon
who were some of Galens patients?
Marcus Aurelius and Commodus
what were other physicians view on Galen?
he was very unpopular
what was Glanes belief in religion?
he believed in one god although he was not a christian. he was fiercely opposed to atheistic materialism
what was galens view of the human body?
highly teleological(what it does not how it became like that)
what did Galen and the Hippocrates have in common?
ethical practice in medicine. Galen believed that physicians should disdain money and seek wisdom
how did Galen study anatomy
?
anatomical info from Alexandrian anatomists like Herophilus and Erasistratus
dissection of animals
inspection of patients with severe traumatic wounds, from his days as a gladiatoral physician
examination of bones from destroyed tombs
Galen’s biological insights
in his view how was the voice controlled?
by laryngeal nerves that lead to the brain
this supported the idea that the brain is the center of thought and reason
what was Galens thoughts on Arteries?
that they contain Blood not air
Galens thoughts on the kidney?
make urine, not the bladder
what did Galen notice about the gut?
peristalsis
what did galen do to study the spine?
cut it in different places and noted the loss of function
Galens thoughts on blood circulation?
it moves from the site of synthesis (liver from food) to the tissue
what were Galens therapies?
balance the Humours with diet
Balance the humours with bloodletting and purging
in terms of drugs what type did Galen favour?
complex drug mixtures, especially theriac, which was based on a poison antidote
what are thses complex drugs called?
polypharmacy
why did Galens name endure?
Religiosity fit with the Christian belief
A lot of his writings were encyclopedic
Place the names of these 8 science guys in their historical order from oldest to most recent: Hippocrates, Galen, Thales, Bill Nye, Democritus, Pliny the Elder, Aristotle, Empedocles.
- Thales
- Empedocles
- Democritus
- Hippocrates
- Aristotle
- Pliny the Elder
- Galen
- Bill Nye
(Oddly enough Democritus and Hippocrates were both born the same year and died the same year according the Wikipedia, so they’re hard to rank)
