Philinus of Cos was a Greek physician. He was the reputed founder of the Empiric school

Empiric school

The Empiric school of medicine was an ancient school of medicine in ancient Greece and Rome. They were so called from the word empeiria because they professed to derive their knowledge from experiences only, and in doing so set themselves in opposition to the Dogmatic school...

. He was a pupil of Herophilus, a contemporary of Bacchius

Bacchius of Tanagra

Bacchius of Tanagra, , , was one of the earliest commentators on the writings of Hippocrates and was a native of Tanagra in Boeotia. He was a follower of Herophilus, and a contemporary of Philinus. Therefore, he must have lived in the 3rd century BC...

, and a predecessor of Serapion

Serapion of Alexandria

Serapion of Alexandria, was a physician who lived in the 3rd century BC. He belonged to the Empiric school, and so much extended and improved the system of Philinus of Cos, that the creation of the school is attributed to him by some ancient writers. Serapion wrote against Hippocrates with much...

. He wrote a work on part of the Hippocratic collection directed against Bacchius, and also one on botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

, neither of which has survived. It is perhaps this later work that is quoted by Athenaeus

Athenaeus

Athenaeus , of Naucratis in Egypt, Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourished about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD...

, Pliny

Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...

, and Andromachus

Andromachus (physician)

Andromachus was the name of two Greek physicians, father and son, who lived in the time of Nero.*Andromachus the Elder, was born in Crete, and was physician to Nero, 54-68 AD...

.