282 Late antiquity
hotly debated question of the presence, or absence, of pharmacological
‘experiments’ in Galen’s works or – as I would rather put it – on Galen’s
theory of experimentation, namely his ideas on the requirements for a cor-
rect use of, and sufficiently specific search for, the relevant empirical data –
indeed, for a correctidentificationof the relevant empirical data. Secondly,
the concept of ‘qualified experience’ is of interest for an assessment of the
originality of Galen’s position, in particular with respect to the medical
sect to which his pharmacological work is probably most indebted, the
Empiricists. For, on the one hand, Galen uses the notion to articulate his
own refined and sophisticated use of experience as against its allegedly un-
qualified application by the Empiricists;^10 on the other hand, as we shall
see, he clearly distinguishes it from ‘rational’ methods of discovery as well,
such as ‘indication’ (
D
) on the basis of the ‘essence’ (()orthe
‘nature’ ( -
) of the substance, various other forms of inferential think-
ing ( =
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, etc.) as well as his own
systematic ‘method’ ( ) of treatment as expounded inOn the Method
of Healing. This raises the question of to what extent the concept repre-
sents a successful attempt at combining reason and experience. Finally, the
concept raises some fascinating problems about the philosophical concep-
tualisation of what seems to be a rather straightforward commonsensical
idea, namely that a foodstuff or drug does not produce the same effect in
all cases (which had been recognised by Greek dietetic writers from the
Hippocratic author ofOn Ancient Medicineonwards), or to be more pre-
cise – and perhaps less commonsensical – that one and the same substance
may act either as a foodstuff ( )orasadrug( )orevenas
a poison (# #
) depending on the manner and the circumstances
under which it is applied.
2 galen on diorismos
Galen’s notion of ‘qualified experience’ should not be confused with his
more straightforward, much more frequently expressed belief that some-
thing – a statement or claim, an issue, idea or notion – may be in need
of qualificationby means ofexperience. Thus inDe simpl. med. fac. 2. 7
( 11. 483 K.), in an obvious lash at the Empiricists, he says that the question
(^10) SeeDe alim. facult. 1. 1. 4 (CMGv4, 2 ,p. 202. 23 – 5 Helmreich, 6. 455 K.);De meth. med. 3. 3 ( 10. 181
K.); cf.De comp. med. sec. loc. 1. 7 ( 12. 469 K.): ‘This is what Archigenes has written, making his
teaching not only empirical but also without qualification’ ($ . 5a
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