Tieleman T
Faculteit Wijsbegeerte, Universiteit Utrecht.
Gewina. 1995;18(3):24-36.
In books I-VI of his On the doctrines of Hippocrates and Plato, the medical scientist and philosopher Galen of Pergamon (c. 129-210 CE) defends the platonic tripartition and trilocation of the soul against the cardiocentric theory endorsed by the Aristotelians, Stoics and many physicians. This article concentrates on Galen's anatomical experiments (vivisections) concerned with the nervous and arterial systems. These experiments are embedded in a theoretical framework derived in large part from Aristotelian theory of science. Though Galen is to some extent aware of certain theoretical problems involved in experimentation, notably that of experimental error, he remains in many respects a captive of a traditional debate, which is marked by a limited set of available options. Thus his experiments serve the purpose of confirming the platonic position, even though they are sometimes open to alternative interpretations.
在其《论希波克拉底和柏拉图的学说》第一至六卷中，医学科学家兼哲学家、帕加马的盖伦（公元约129 - 210年）捍卫了柏拉图关于灵魂的三重划分及三重定位的观点，反对亚里士多德学派、斯多葛学派及许多医生所支持的以心脏为中心的理论。本文聚焦于盖伦有关神经和动脉系统的解剖实验（活体解剖）。这些实验被置于一个在很大程度上源自亚里士多德科学理论的理论框架之中。尽管盖伦在一定程度上意识到了实验中涉及的某些理论问题，尤其是实验误差问题，但在许多方面他仍然受制于一场传统辩论，这场辩论的特点是可用选项有限。因此，他的实验旨在证实柏拉图的观点，尽管这些实验有时也可能有其他解释。
