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As a Vitalist, Galen believed that the world was living, literally, and in a constant state of evolution. He used the pneuma, which, during the time period was considered to be a breath drawn in and distributed through the body, to explain this concept. He reframed the definition and studied the pneuma from a scientific or “anatomical” point of view rather than a psychological point of view, in opposition the Stoics. This shift was a major change in the historical thinking of the pneuma. Although he still considered the pneuma to be an essential life force, he clearly differentiated between the two kinds of pneuma; ‘physical’ and ‘psychic.’

Galen even further split these pneuma into an adaptation of the Platonic tripartite soul which he called the “three vital principles of life”: natural, vital, and animal spirit (which was also known as the psychic pneuma).

An important aspect of Galen’s anatomical investigations was his ability to localize functions within the body and connect them to the corresponding pneuma. The natural pneuma, which controlled day-to-day functions; the survival instincts of any living thing, could be found in both plants and animals so it was a basic predisposition that resided in all living creatures. The vital pneuma, which had to do with the functions of the body and pertained to the arterial system; these were the functions of internal regulation such as body temperature and digestion, was localized in the heart. Both animals and humans had this. Lastly, the psychic pneuma, which was found in the brain, was responsible for human’s higher cognitive functioning abilities. Galen was one of the first scientist and philosophers to be able to clearly support his ideas of localization. Although he, like the Stoics, believed that the world was alive, he is still not considered to fall into the Stoicism category. Galen was much better known for his accomplishments in medicine, which is where his work on the pneuma stemmed from