[MaFLa] invitation to a talk ON GALEN’S THEORY OF VISION, 23 February,4.30 PM

[Krisztina Biber]

The CEU Philosophy Department and The Center for Hellenic Traditions
cordially invite you to a talk 
(as part of  the Philosophy Department’s  Colloquium series)
by
Katerina Ierodiakonou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens 
) 
on
ON GALEN’S THEORY OF VISION

Tuesday, 23 February 2010, 4.30 PM, Zrinyi 14, Room 412

ABSTRACT
The standard interpretation of Galen’s general philosophical stance
presents him as an eclectic, that is to say as a philosopher who does
not commit himself to the entirety of the doctrines of a particular
philosophical school, but selects from different theories different
elements which seem fitting to him and which he combines in such a way
as to produce a coherent system. Galen’s theory of vision confirms, I
think, such an overall account of his philosophical position, for there
is no indication in the Galenic corpus which could suggest that Galen is
a devoted adherent of one or another of the various theories of vision
presented in antiquity by his predecessors. Thus, my aim in this paper
is simply to focus on how Galen interacts with the previous
philosophical tradition when it comes to his understanding of how we
see. I hope to show that Galen refuses to blindly follow the views of a
particular philosophical school, but collects elements from the
Platonic, the Aristotelian and the Stoic model in order to form his own
eclectic theory. Indeed, it is quite intriguing to study the amalgam
which Galen himself produces for two reasons:
(a)	in order to understand why he selects the specific elements
which he does from the previous theories of vision; and 
(b)	in order to investigate whether the theory of vision that he
finally comes up with is actually coherent or not.



Kriszta Biber
Department Coordinator
Philosophy Department
Tel: 36-1-327-3806
Fax: 36-1-327-3072
E-mail: biberk at ceu.hu
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