Galen on qualified experience 281
It seems that this concept has not received the attention it deserves.^8
In fact it is a genuinely Galenic technical term which is used a num-
ber of times, especially in his dietetic and pharmacological works,^9 and
which is of interest for a variety of reasons. First, it has a bearing on the
is not restricted to pharmacological experience, but adopted as a general principle of sophistication
and accuracy in order to reduce the possibility of error; see von Staden ( 1997 ) and his references to
De comp. med. sec. loc. 2. 1 ( 12. 498 K.); 7. 6 ( 13. 107 – 8 K.); 9. 1 ( 13. 229 K.);De comp. med. per gen. 4. 5
( 13. 681 – 2 K.);De simpl. med. fac. 2. 23 ( 11. 523 – 5 K.). Thus Galen frequently stresses the urgency of
diorismoswith regard to the writings of other physicians, whose statements ( !
) are said to suffer
from incorrectness or inaccuracy,"
)being used on a par with )(‘confused’),
M *(‘without specification’) or"
)(‘unarticulated’), as inCommentary on Hippocrates’
Prognostic(In Hippocratis Prognosticon librum commentaria, In Hipp. Progn. comment.) 1. 30 (CMGv
9 , 2 ,p. 248. 5 – 6 Heeg, 18 b. 93 K.),De simpl. med. fac. 1. 18 ( 11. 412 K.), andDe comp. med. per gen. 1. 14
( 13. 426 K.). Cf.De meth. med. 6. 4 ( 10. 420 K.): ‘Some of the things written by him [i.e. Hippocrates]
can be found to be lacking in qualification, or deficient or unclear’ ( 1 "
!
*
H 5 ($[sc.X v ] )
H
" ); 6. 5 ( 10. 425 K.);
De simpl. med. fac. 2. 12 ( 11. 490 K.); 6. 1 ( 11. 805 K.);De comp. med. sec. loc. 2. 1 ( 12. 526 , 529 , and 532
K.); 3. 1 ( 12. 619 K.): ‘Many others have in the same manner and for many parts and affections (of
the body) described drugs without further qualification, not knowing what great power qualification
(diorismos) has for the establishment of the art (of medicine)’ (
. '
3
(3 ! * ) * "
!
0 %
#
3
-
# -
). Galen occasionally also uses")(e.g. inDe
simpl. med. fac. 1. 18 ( 11. 412 K.)),"
)(On the Sects(De sectis) 5 ,p. 9. 21 Helmreich, 1. 75 K.),
" =
(De simpl. med. fac. 1. 31 ( 11. 435 K.)) and=
(e.g.De simpl. med. fac. 1. 27 ( 11. 429 K.))
to express the same idea. On the Aristotelian origins of the concept ofdiorismossee below.(^8) Although much has been written on Galen’s attitude towards experience, the concept of
)
#
has not, to the best of my knowledge, been studied or even recognised before as a technical
term. Harig ( 1974 , 77 ff.) provides some important remarks without actually mentioning the term
(see esp. p. 85 : ‘Denn ein Pharmakon, das den eukratischen Gesunden erw ̈armt, braucht keineswegs
bei einer kalten Dyskrasie und noch viel weniger bei einer kalten Krankheit w ̈armend zu wirken,
so dass eine zuverl ̈assige Aussage ̈uber seine w ̈armende Eigenschaft nur durch den Vergleich seiner
Wirkung unter verschiedenen Ausgangsbedingungen gewonnen werden kann’); cf. Frede ( 1987 c)
295 – 6 : ‘Proposed theorems arrived at by experience tend to lack the proper qualifications... Though
experience puts one into a position to deal with familiar situations, it is not as resourceful as the
rational method when it comes to dealing with qualitatively new cases’; Grmek and Gourevitch ( 1985 )
24 – 5 : ‘Le raisonnement seul peut d ́eterminer le rapport entre les qualit ́es d’un medicament et leurs ́
degr ́es d’une part et les effets pharmacologiques d’autre part; le raisonnement seul peut prendre en
consid ́eration la nature du malade, le stade de la maladie, la puissance du remede et le moment propice a son administration pour arriver ainsialad ́ecouverte du traitement dont la valeur sera confirm ́ee par l’ ́epreuve clinique... La d ́ecouverte des m ́edicaments compos ́es est, selon Galien, une affaire tres
complexe, o`u le raisonnement joue un rˆole important en guidant le travail du m ́edecin sans ́eliminer
pour autant la n ́ecessit ́e de la confirmation exp ́erimentale.’ For general studies on Galen’s views on
experience see Debru ( 1991 ) and ( 1994 ) (with abundant bibliography), esp. 1750 ff.; Fabricius ( 1972 )
36 – 51 ; Tieleman ( 1995 ) 32 – 4.
(^9) The expression8
)
# occurs inDe alim. facult. 1. 1. 45 and 46 (CMGv4, 2 ,p. 216. 5
and 14 Helmreich, 6. 479 K.); 1. 12. 1 (CMGv4, 2 ,p. 233. 2 – 3 Helmreich, 6. 508 K.);De meth. med.
3. 7 ( 10. 204 K.);De simpl. med. fac. 3. 13 ( 11. 573 K.); 4. 19 ( 11. 685 K.); 4. 23 ( 11. 703 K.); 6. 1 ( 11. 800
K.); 7. 10 ( 12. 38 K.). Slightly different formulations of the same idea (e.g. that should not be
executed without
!) can be found inDe alim. facult. 1. 1. 7 – 8 (CMGv4, 2 ,p. 204. 3 – 5 and
15 Helmreich, 6. 457 – 8 K.); 1. 1. 43 (CMGv4, 2 ,p. 215. 18 – 20 Helmreich, 6. 478 K.); 2. 59 (CMGv4,
2 ,p. 323. 8 – 9 Helmreich, 6. 648 K.);De meth. med. 3. 3 ( 10. 181 K.); 3. 7 ( 10. 204 K.);De simpl. med. fac.
3. 6 ( 11. 552 K.); 10. 1 ( 12. 246 K.). For occurrences of the notion in non-pharmacological contexts see
On Critical Days(De diebus decretoriis, De diebus decr.) 2. 2 ( 9. 842 – 3 K.); 2. 6 ( 9. 872 K.);On Diagnosis
of Pulses(De dignotione pulsuum, De dign. puls.) 2. 2 ( 8. 848 – 52 K.).