Introduction: Philosophical and Medical Galenisms

The persistence of remnants of Galenism in spite of the gradual obsolescence of its overall theoretical framework is currently a lively topic in the history of medicine. Galen’s influence, however, was not limited to the medical field. So far, most studies on Galen’s early modern legacy have mainly focused on the specifically medical side of post-medieval and Renaissance Galenism. However, this privileged focus on sixteenth-century medicine may easily result in overlooking the long-term effect of Galen’s rediscovery as well as the specifically philosophical import of early modern Galenism. Even after becoming largely obsolete as a scientific and medical system, Galenism was still able to inspire philosophical debates and inform philosophical theories. Moreover, far from surviving as a single and unequivocally identifiable school of thought, post-Renaissance Galenism spread its influence across different or even competing schools like mechanism and vitalism. The present collection of studies aims to explore the interactions between medical and philosophical Galenisms that took place from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century.