Impaired consciousness in ancient medical texts / Andrés D. Pelavski.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pelavski Atlas, Andrés Diego, Author.

Series:

Cambridge classical studies.

Cambridge classical studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Loss of consciousness.

Altered states of consciousness.

Medicine, Ancient.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 226 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2026.

Summary:

Impaired consciousness is a topic lying at the intersection of science and philosophy. It encourages reflection on questions concerning human nature, the body, the soul, the mind and their relation, as well as the blurry limits between health, disease, life and death. This is the first study of impaired consciousness in the works of some highly influential Greek and Roman medical writers who lived in periods ranging from Classical Greece to the Roman Empire in the second century CE. Andrés Pelavski employs the notion and contrasts ancient and contemporary theoretical frameworks in order to challenge some established ideas about mental illness in antiquity. All the ancient texts are translated and the theoretical concepts clearly explained. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

Contents:

Introduction. Many definitions of consciousness

Definitions of delirium/wakeful impaired consciousness versus madness, and the concept of 'disease'

Delirium versus madness and the notion of disease in the Hippocratic Corpus

Delirium, madness, and disease among post-Hellenistic authors

Galen's delirium : hot and dry duscrasia of the hêgemonikon

Final remarks about delirium and the notion of disease : a diachronic look

A general glance at sleep

Sleep in the Hippocratic Corpus

Sleep in post-Hellenistic sources

Sleep in Galen

Sleep and the mind : an overview of ideas that did not change

General overview of total loss of consciousness

The Hippocratic Corpus and total loss of consciousness

Total loss of consciousness in post-Hellenistic authors

Galen's two ways of losing consciousness

Concluding reflections on the implication of the soul in total loss of consciousness.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Dec 2025).

ISBN:

1-009-61655-2

1-009-61656-0

1-009-61657-9

Access Restriction:

Open Access. Unrestricted online access