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Dans les yeux du singe qu’on dissèque : Galien face à la souffrance animale

Véronique BOUDON-MILLOT

fr Anthropozoologica 58 (10) - Pages 97-106

Published on 21 September 2023

This article is a part of the thematic issue Zoological observation, experience and experimentation on animals. Antiquity - Middle Ages

In the eyes of the monkey being dissected: Galen facing animal suffering

Based on the examination of some passages of Galen’s Anatomicae administrationes preserved only in Arabic translation, this paper explores to what extent Galen could be concerned with animal suffering. It appears that the Greek physician and famous anatomist makes a clear distinction not only between dissection and vivisection, but also between the dissection of monkeys and that of other animals. This paper explores in particular how the use of the relatively rare adjective εἰδεχθές (obnoxious appearance) can shed new light on the ambivalent relationship between physicians and animals.


Keywords:

Ancient medicine, dissection, animal suffering.

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