Galen on the Definition of Disease

This article considers the exiguous history of disease definition in the Greco-Roman medical traditions. It argues that the long-lived and influential definition of disease historically associated with Galen predates him by at least a generation, and that available evidence places its probable roots in the work of Methodist physicians. The conclusion is unexpected, given Galen's universal dismissal of Methodist theory and practice. For reasons I explore, however, the functional terms of the definition are congenial to Methodist epistemological commitments. The same features ideally suit it to Galen's system of disease, to his teleological views, and to his syncretistic approach to earlier Greek intellectual authorities.