Who created the Theory of Opposites?

• A. Hippocrates
• B. Galen
• C. Aristotle
• D. Ptolemy

Answer: (B)

The main idea being tested is that illness is treated by counteracting an imbalance in the body’s qualities with opposite ones. In the ancient humoral system, health depends on four humors that carry paired qualities—hot with cold and wet with dry. When one quality dominates, disease follows, so doctors used substances or regimens that have the opposite qualities to restore balance.

Galen is the best answer because he formalized this approach into a general rule: contraria contrariis curantur, meaning opposite remedies cure opposite conditions. He took the Hippocratic framework of humors and gave a clear method for treatment by applying opposite qualities, guiding diet, drugs, and regimen to rebalance the body. His writings and practice made the Theory of Opposites a central, codified part of medical theory in his era and for centuries afterward.

Hippocrates laid the groundwork by proposing balance as the health goal, but the explicit, systematic use of opposites as a universal therapeutic principle is attributed to Galen. Aristotle and Ptolemy were not associated with developing this medical doctrine.