Abstract

Throughout his works, Galen attempts to prove that none of the parts created to perpetuate the species could be better disposed. Thus, he supports his guiding principles (Hippocrate's dogmatic truth and Aristotle's method) by the results of dissections, which he continues to use throughout his life. Besides his strict descriptions, there are some errors that arise because he extends his observations of anatomy from animal to man by analogy, and because he attempts to give a finalist explanation to all the organs, according to the philosophic rather than the medical theories of the anatomo-physiology of his time