Galenic Studies by Matyáš Havrda
Classical Review
A review article on three recent publications of Galen's works. If anyone's interested, I'm happy... more A review article on three recent publications of Galen's works. If anyone's interested, I'm happy to share via e-mail.
History and Philosophy of Logic, 2025
The paper revisits the question of the nature of relational syllogisms in Galen of Pergamum's Ins... more The paper revisits the question of the nature of relational syllogisms in Galen of Pergamum's Institutio Logica. It asks why, or in virtue of which characteristics, relational syllogisms are relational. It argues that it is not because they contain relational predicates, or relational propositions, nor because of their form, but because they follow the rules of inference from non-predicative relations. But, considering that Galen sometimes presents these rules as premises, we may wonder if these arguments are not merely a camouflaged version of hypothetical syllogisms. The paper explains why they are not, using a (hitherto unnoticed) example of a relational proof in Galen's commentary on the Hippocratic Regimen in Acute Diseases. In the concluding section, the article suggests that Galen's original reasons for introducing relational syllogisms into logical theory were exegetical.
The first edition of Greek and Arabic testimonia, some published for the first time, with a subst... more The first edition of Greek and Arabic testimonia, some published for the first time, with a substantive introduction that deals with the sources, the history of scholarship, the purpose, structure and contents of the treatise, and its Arabic reception. Open access publication.
Early Science and Medicine, 2024
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.
The Oxford Handbook of Galen, ed. P. N. Singer and Ralph M. Rosen, Oxford University Press, 2024, pp. 229-249
Galen developed a method of rational inquiry designed to solve the problems pertaining to medicin... more Galen developed a method of rational inquiry designed to solve the problems pertaining to medicine and natural science. This chapter outlines the main features of this method and shows how it is applied in dealing with specific issues. It offers an account of the significance to Galen’s approach of training in logic and of logical argumentation, and in particular of the method of demonstration, while also showing the distinctiveness of this approach within its intellectual context and the relevance to it of mathematical or geometrical models of argument. The chapter explores in detail Galen’s theory and practice of demonstration, using selected case studies to elucidate its use in scientific and therapeutic contexts.
A. Pietrobelli (ed.), Contre Galien : Critiques d'une autorité médicale de l'Antiquité à l'âge moderne, Paris : Honoré Champion, 2020
In his polemic against the Galenic notion of soul as mixture Nemesius fails to adapt traditional ... more In his polemic against the Galenic notion of soul as mixture Nemesius fails to adapt traditional arguments against the attunement theory to Galen's real views and thus misses the opportunity at their effective criticism.
Phronesis, 2017
Galen’s physiology – his theory of elements, mixtures and the emergence of natural capacities – c... more Galen’s physiology – his theory of elements, mixtures and the emergence of natural capacities – compels him to conceive of each part of the soul as a peculiar mixture of elementary qualities in the material substance of the organ (the liver, the heart or the brain) in which it is located. The reason why Galen, nevertheless, refrains from making a dogmatic assertion about the substance of the soul, or of human nature in general, is the acknowledged failure to account for two goal-directed activities – the formation of bodily organs and human intelligence – in terms of elementary qualities and their mixtures.
Early Science and Medicine, 2015
This paper concerns the lost treatise On Demonstration (DD) written by Galen of Pergamum (129 – c... more This paper concerns the lost treatise On Demonstration (DD) written by Galen of Pergamum (129 – ca. 215 AD). Its aim is to reconstruct the purpose of this treatise, especially the question of how, in Galen’s view, it was supposed to be useful for doctors. While showing that the methods described in DD were designed to settle disagreements among doctors, the paper argues that the choice of topics discussed there was partly determined by Galen’s worry about a mode of reasoning, exemplified by scepticism, that leads people into believing that plain phenomena, such as those on which both medical practice and theory are based, do not exist.
Aristotle and Aristotelian tradition by Matyáš Havrda
Elenchos, 2021
In Quaestiones 1.3 and 2.14, Alexander presents a distinctly realist or essentialist view of the ... more In Quaestiones 1.3 and 2.14, Alexander presents a distinctly realist or essentialist view of the objects of definition, distinguished, on the one hand, from two types of realism rejected by Aristotle (definienda as separate forms and as particulars), and, on the other, from two types of conceptualism (non-essentialist and essentialist abstractivism) that probably belong within the Peripatetic tradition. The difference between Alexander's view and essentialist abstractivism lies in his understanding of definienda not as the common concepts of things existing in the particulars, but as the common things conceived of as existing in the particulars. This paper offers a close reading of Quaest. 1.3, whose aim is to flesh out Alexander's position vis-à-vis the objects of definition against the backdrop of the four rejected alternatives. The distinction between Alexander's essentialism and the essentialist abstractivist notion of definienda is further explained in light of Quaest. 2.14. The amended Greek text of Quaest. 1.3 is appended with an English translation.
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/elen-2021-0018/html
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/elen-2021-0018/html
Eirene: Studia Graeca et Latina, 2019
Contrary to the current communis opinio, this paper argues that Aristotle does not distinguish be... more Contrary to the current communis opinio, this paper argues that Aristotle does not distinguish between common and specific topoi in the Rhetoric. Rather, he distinguishes two sources of rhetorical deductions, one of them being topoi and the other definitions or definition-like accounts. Whereas the knowledge of topoi belongs to the expertise of a rhetor or a dialectician, definitions properly belong to specific arts and sciences. In Rhet. I,4–15, Aristotle deals with both sources (referred to as “elements”) in view of the three kinds of rhetoric – deliberative, epideictic, and juridical – and provides a list of premisses pertaining to each of these kinds, always starting with those based on definitions.
Studies on Clement and Early Christian Thought by Matyáš Havrda
Adamantius, 2022
The paper presents Clement of Alexandria as a witness to epistemological debates in Greek philoso... more The paper presents Clement of Alexandria as a witness to epistemological debates in Greek philosophy and as a creative appropriator of Greek epistemological language. Focusing on three concepts discussed in the second book of the Stromateis - πίστις, πρόληψις, and ἀπόδειξις - it analyses Clement’s engagement with them against the background of their Peripatetic, Epicurean, and Galenic sources.
L. Ayres, M. Champion, and M. Crawford (eds.), The Intellectual World of Christian Late Antiquity: Reshaping Classical Traditions, Cambridge University Press, 2023, pp. 89-99
In M.J. Edwards (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Early Christian Philosophy; Routledge 2021.
Thi... more In M.J. Edwards (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Early Christian Philosophy; Routledge 2021.
This chapter explores, in a systematic manner, the project of Christian philosophy, as developed by Clement of Alexandria. It also touches, rather briefly, on Clement's complex attitude to Greek philosophy.
This chapter explores, in a systematic manner, the project of Christian philosophy, as developed by Clement of Alexandria. It also touches, rather briefly, on Clement's complex attitude to Greek philosophy.
The Rise of the Early Christian Intellectual, ed. L. Ayres & H. Clifton Ward; Berlin – New York: De Gruyter, 2020
Discusses the origin of the idea of intellectual independence in early Christian thought against ... more Discusses the origin of the idea of intellectual independence in early Christian thought against the backdrop of Greek philosophy and medicine.
VIGILIAE CHRISTIANAE 73.2 (2019) 121-137
The prologue of Clement’s Pedagogue is re-examined against the backdrop of the divisions of ethic... more The prologue of Clement’s Pedagogue is re-examined against the backdrop of the divisions of ethics in Philo of Larissa, Eudorus, and Seneca. Apart from shedding light on the prologue as a project of practical ethics, new observations about Seneca’s terminology are made and a hitherto unnoticed parallel in Strabo adduced. Turning to Stromateis II 2, 4-6, the paper argues that it plays the role of an introduction to theoretical ethics, which covers the rest of the extant Stromateis, being designed for the sake of prospective teachers of Christian doctrine.
NB: The published version contains several typos, all of which are corrected here. Pagination in the square brackets corresponds to the published version.
NB: The published version contains several typos, all of which are corrected here. Pagination in the square brackets corresponds to the published version.
The Seventh Book of the Stromateis, Ed. M. Havrda, V. Hušek, and J. Plátová (Vigiliae Christianae Supplements 117, Leiden: Brill 2012) 261-275
Collection of comments to various passages of Clement of Alexandria’s Stromata V (1,1-2; 2,5-6; 3... more Collection of comments to various passages of Clement of Alexandria’s Stromata V (1,1-2; 2,5-6; 3,2; 6,3; 8,6; 18,3; 23,2-24,2; 38,5; 71,2-3; 83,5; 90,2; 98,4; 133,7; 141,3). Its aim is to complement earlier research by re-examining the syntactic structure or the meaning of terms, by adducing new parallels or by proposing fresh explanations of diffi cult segments of the text.
Keywords: philosophy of faith, Basilides, being-life-thinking, angelology, exegesis of the High Priest, symbolism, negative theology, Valentinianism, soteriology
Keywords: philosophy of faith, Basilides, being-life-thinking, angelology, exegesis of the High Priest, symbolism, negative theology, Valentinianism, soteriology
Studies on 'Stromata VIII' by Matyáš Havrda
Clement's Biblical Exegesis. Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria (Olomouc, May 29–31, 2014), ed. Veronika Černušková, Judith L. Kovacs, and Jana Plátová (Vigiliae Christianae Supplements 139; Leiden / Boston: Brill, 2016), pp. 162-178
One of four preparatory studies for my PhA monograph on the ''eighth Stromateus'. Published in a ... more One of four preparatory studies for my PhA monograph on the ''eighth Stromateus'. Published in a fine collection of essays on early Patristic biblical exegesis.
Abstract: In the first two pages of the so-called eighth book of the Stromateis, Clement outlines a method of inquiry suitable to the followers of the “really true philosophy”, i.e., the Christians. He does so in response to the biblical command “Seek and you will find, knock and it will open, ask and it will be given to you” (Matt 7:7). A close reading of these pages shows that Clement thinks of Christian inquiry as a process in the course of which the meaning of difficult scriptural passages is revealed on the basis of Scripture itself. He also thinks of it as a process of teaching, accompanied by the critical examination of various (other than biblical) views in light of the “common notions”. How does this outline fit in with the remaining sections of the ‘eighth book’, consisting, for the most part, of purely philosophical material whose relevance to anything Christian is far from plain? Analysing the contents of the first ‘chapter’ and other (rare) occasions in the remaining sections of the text where traces of Clement’s Christian interests are discernible, this paper argues that, when composing the text known as Stromateis VIII, Clement approached his source-material from the perspective of a biblical exegete and a Christian teacher. Nevertheless, he did not deem it his duty to subordinate the material to this perspective, leaving it open to further exploitation and limiting himself to occasional comments and glosses.
Abstract: In the first two pages of the so-called eighth book of the Stromateis, Clement outlines a method of inquiry suitable to the followers of the “really true philosophy”, i.e., the Christians. He does so in response to the biblical command “Seek and you will find, knock and it will open, ask and it will be given to you” (Matt 7:7). A close reading of these pages shows that Clement thinks of Christian inquiry as a process in the course of which the meaning of difficult scriptural passages is revealed on the basis of Scripture itself. He also thinks of it as a process of teaching, accompanied by the critical examination of various (other than biblical) views in light of the “common notions”. How does this outline fit in with the remaining sections of the ‘eighth book’, consisting, for the most part, of purely philosophical material whose relevance to anything Christian is far from plain? Analysing the contents of the first ‘chapter’ and other (rare) occasions in the remaining sections of the text where traces of Clement’s Christian interests are discernible, this paper argues that, when composing the text known as Stromateis VIII, Clement approached his source-material from the perspective of a biblical exegete and a Christian teacher. Nevertheless, he did not deem it his duty to subordinate the material to this perspective, leaving it open to further exploitation and limiting himself to occasional comments and glosses.
Analysis of a chapter dealing with the Aristotelian categories in the so-called eighth book of St... more Analysis of a chapter dealing with the Aristotelian categories in the so-called eighth book of Stromata ('Liber logicus') by Clement of Alexandria (Strom. VIII 8, 23, 1-9).
NB: In my commentary on 'Stromata VIII' (PhA 144, Brill 2016, pp. 246-262), I've modified some views presented in this paper, especially as regards the interpretation of 23, 6 (GCS 95,1-3).
NB: In my commentary on 'Stromata VIII' (PhA 144, Brill 2016, pp. 246-262), I've modified some views presented in this paper, especially as regards the interpretation of 23, 6 (GCS 95,1-3).
Preliminary notes on the text of Stromata VIII, built on, partly modified, and expanded in my sub... more Preliminary notes on the text of Stromata VIII, built on, partly modified, and expanded in my subsequent commentary (PhA 144, Brill 2016).