Physiology of the Soul

Mind, Body and Matter in the Galenic Tradition of Late Renaissance (1550-1630)

By (author) Fabrizio Bigotti

Book cover: Physiology of the Soul

Extent: 366, 366 pages

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Subjects: Early Modern & Renaissance Studies, Philosophy

Series: Age of Descartes

Series volume number: 3

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(November 2019)

ISBN: 9782503581613

Price: $107.00

In stock

In spite of the commonly held opinion according to which Galen’s authority was gradually superseded by Vesalius and his followers, a close look at the influence that Galen’s psychological works exerted on physicians and philosophers of the early modern period reveals quite a different picture. Not only were Galenists often keen to embrace the new anatomical discoveries, eventually they even contributed to shaping a series of new analytical, practical and experimental tools that started an in-depth transformation of the traditional rationale, with far-reaching and unexpected consequences in domains such as theory of matter, philosophical anthropology and medical experimentation. Through the lens provided by mental disease and its connection to the soul, a new concept of the body and the human animal ultimately emerges: a concept that accompanies the development of early modern ideas on subjectivity and the self.

  • By (author) Fabrizio Bigotti