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Chapter 5 - Tripartition

Putting the Body Back Together

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2025

Aistė Čelkytė
Affiliation:
Universiteit Leiden
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Summary

This chapter looks at the ways in which Galen posits the theoretical unity among the discrete physiological system, especially with a reference to tripartition. Unlike Platonic, the tripartition that is motivated by psychological conflict, Galen’s tripartition of physiological domains shows the three domains to be highly cooperative and co-dependent on each other. The respective material fluxes they control are together necessary for continued functioning. The chapter looks at Galen’s adoption of the popular philosophical idea that identity persists because of the form, and at his analysis of different causes, strongly influenced by the ideas of his contemporary Middle Platonists. While more popular analyses of causes explain that the body is unified in its design, it is the notion of cohesive cause, the chapter argues, that accounts for unified physiological functioning.

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Chapter
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Galen on Human Physiology
Taking the Body Apart and Putting it Back Together Again
, pp. 183 - 213
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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  • Tripartition
  • Aistė Čelkytė, Universiteit Leiden
  • Book: Galen on Human Physiology
  • Online publication: 28 July 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009435833.007
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  • Tripartition
  • Aistė Čelkytė, Universiteit Leiden
  • Book: Galen on Human Physiology
  • Online publication: 28 July 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009435833.007
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Tripartition
  • Aistė Čelkytė, Universiteit Leiden
  • Book: Galen on Human Physiology
  • Online publication: 28 July 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009435833.007
Available formats
×