ABSTRACT
Aristotle's conception of the world and the place of health in it was a critical contribution to Galen's medical framework and also served more generally as the philosophical foundation for medieval science until the Scientific Revolution more than 2,000 years late. Aristotle's theories were closely tied to his observations and to the general Greek intellectual orientation of his day. Aristotle's orderly sense of the world extended to the place of humans in nature. He believed in a hierarchy of the natural world with humans at the top. Aristotle's discussion of "goods" or resources sheds light on our understanding of the role of health in our lives. Aristotle did not confuse the possession of goods with a good life. The good lyre player, noted Aristotle, uses a good lyre to play well. Aristotle was not a health imperialist. He certainly did not think that being healthy was a sufficient condition for leading a good life.
