Galen on qualified experience 285
to, but occasionally also as supplementary to, inference (
)by
reason.^17 What does Galen mean by this, and what kind of ‘qualifications’
are there to be considered? And how is this concept related to reason and
experience?
At some places where he uses the term
)
# , Galen says
that he has explained the notion in greater detail elsewhere, but none of
these references turned out on checking to point to a really systematic or
exhaustive treatment of the concept.^18 The most instructive textual eluci-
dation is provided by the first chapter ofOn the Powers of Foodstuffsand
the third book ofOn Mixtures, the latter being a sort of short treatise on
elementary pharmacology which, as Galen does not grow tired of stressing
repeatedly,^19 is an indispensable prerequisite for a correct understanding of
all his pharmacological works – a typically Galenic schoolmasterly recom-
mendation to students of his pharmacological works to do their homework
properly.
In the long introductory chapter ofOn the Powers of Foodstuffs, which pre-
cedes his actual discussion of the powers of the various foodstuffs, Galen
points out that an exclusively empirical approach to the subject of the
(^17) SeeDe simpl. med. fac. 4. 19 ( 11. 685 K.): ‘That all bitter humours have not only a hot but also a dry
mixture is shown first of all by qualified experience, which I have discussed many times, and in
addition to experience the same result is also found if one examines it rationally’ (
5 (. 3
!0 " 1 D#3
% +
3 I !,8
'
")
0 6 A#
0
3 n n9 5
' (
P-) <
).De alim. facult. 1. 12. 1 (CMGv4, 2 ,p. 233. 2 – 3 Helmreich,
6. 508 K.): ‘(On maza.) As to the power of each food, even before subjecting it to qualified experience,
you can infer this from its nature. For to any intelligent man the fine, white flour free from any
bran-like material would indicate etc.’ (W =#> % -
7 )
1
'
- 1 :'
;'.
1 " n
3 . "
<* 3 3 3 M #
( ' -
!<
.). Cf.De alim. facult. 2. 59 (CMGv4, 2 ,p. 323. 8 – 10 Helmreich, 6. 647 – 8 K.), where
qualified experience is presented as supplementary to ‘indication from the structure of the plant’
(
D
"3 ) $ $), andDe simpl. med. fac. 10. 1 ( 12. 246 K.): ‘We have
shown that the general power is clearly indicated by one experiential trial, and not any ran-
dom trial, but one that has been carried out with the qualifications mentioned’ ( # .
P 8 ! -
+-
H
0 ( -# 0
" 1 1
# )
'
#). On Galen’s use of
D
see Kudlien ( 1991 )
103 – 11.
(^18) Thus inDe alim. facult. 1. 1. 7 (CMGv4, 2 ,p. 204. 3 – 5 Helmreich, 6. 457 K.) he refers toOn the
Mixtures and Powers of Simple Drugsand to the third book ofOn Mixtures; Helmreich in his apparatus
does not specify the first reference, but the second is taken to refer to pp. 109 – 15 of his edition of
On Mixtures.InDe simpl. med. fac. 3. 13 ( 11. 573 K.), Galen says that he has explained the urgency
of deciding pharmacological issues on the basis of qualified experience ‘quite often throughout the
preceding sections of the work’ ( !
$
A#
1 ), which
may be no more than an overstatement; similarly vague references are given in 4. 19 ( 11. 685 K.); 4. 23
( 11. 703 K.); 6. 1 ( 11. 800 K.); and 7. 10 ( 12. 38 K.).
(^19) E.g. inDe simpl. med. fac. 1. 1 ( 11. 381 K.); 1. 3 ( 11. 385 K.); 1. 11 ( 11. 400 K.).