Peter Adamson
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View article: The Heirs of Avicenna: Philosophy in the Islamic East, 12–13th Centuries
The Heirs of Avicenna: Philosophy in the Islamic East, 12–13th Centuries Open
This is the second in a series of sourcebooks charting the reception of Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā, d.1037) in the Islamic East (from Syria to central Asia) in the 12th-13th centuries CE. Moving on from the metaphysical and theological concerns co…
View article: The Necessity and Goodness of Animals in Sijistānī’s Kashf Al-Maḥjūb
The Necessity and Goodness of Animals in Sijistānī’s Kashf Al-Maḥjūb Open
The Neoplatonic notion of “emanation” implies a required progression through hierarchical stages, originating from the highest principle (the One or God) and cascading down through a series of principles. While this process is deemed neces…
View article: Thinking with Rosa: assent in philosophy of the Islamic world
Thinking with Rosa: assent in philosophy of the Islamic world Open
In Thinking with Assent: Renewing a Traditional Account of Knowledge and Belief, Maria Rosa Antognazza offers a historical narrative of pre-modern epistemology. She argues that until very recently, philosophers generally held that "knowing…
View article: Virtue Ethics as Animal Ethics in Philosophy of the Islamic World
Virtue Ethics as Animal Ethics in Philosophy of the Islamic World Open
Virtue ethics may seem to be a less useful paradigm for ethical thinking than utilitarianism and deontology, insofar as it seems rather vacuous to be told to act as a virtuous person would act. But the topic considered here shows that this…
View article: The Essence-Existence Distinction
The Essence-Existence Distinction Open
The Essence-Existence DistinctionAvicenna's prominent place in the history of metaphysics would be secure solely on the strength of his famous distinction between essence and existence.Roughly speaking, this is the difference between what …
View article: Good and Evil
Good and Evil Open
Good and EvilIn modern-day philosophy of religion, one of the most avidly discussed topics is the problem of evil.It poses a challenge for theists, namely that evil seems difficult to reconcile with the existence of an all-powerful, all-kn…
View article: God’s Knowledge of Particulars
God’s Knowledge of Particulars Open
Avicenna was notorious for several theses put forward in his philosophy: his endorsement of the eternity of the world, his denial of bodily resurrection, his naturalist accounts of prophecy and miracles.But no one thesis was more notorious…
View article: Individuation
Individuation Open
IndividuationIn his logical and metaphysical writings, Avicenna addressed the question of what makes each individual to be the individual it is.This might seem an odd thing to ask.It certainly makes sense to inquire why a given individual …
View article: God’s Knowledge
God’s Knowledge Open
God's KnowledgeIn this sourcebook we are seeing many points of disagreement between Avicenna and later thinkers, especially those affiliated with Ashʿarite kalām.This chapter by contrast deals with a point of agreement, over the claim that…
View article: The Heirs of Avicenna: Philosophy in the Islamic East, 12-13th Centuries
The Heirs of Avicenna: Philosophy in the Islamic East, 12-13th Centuries Open
This is the first in a series of sourcebooks charting the reception of Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā, d.1037) in the Islamic East (from Syria to central Asia) in the 12th-13th centuries CE. Avicenna was the dominant philosophical authority in this pe…
View article: Averroes' Decisive Treatise(Fas․l al-maqāl) and Exposition (Kashf) as Dialectical Works
Averroes' Decisive Treatise(Fas․l al-maqāl) and Exposition (Kashf) as Dialectical Works Open
Perhaps the most famous text from the Islamic world that combines the themes of philosophy and law is the Decisive Treatise (Faṣl al-Maqāl) by Averroes (Ibn Rushd, d. 1198). As is routinely noted by scholars, the Treatise is a legal determ…
View article: Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī on Animal Cognition and Immortality
Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī on Animal Cognition and Immortality Open
This paper is devoted to a fascinating passage in Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 1210), in which he argues that non-human animals have rational souls. It is found in his Mulaḫḫaṣ fī l-manṭiq wa-l-ḥikma ( Epitome on Philosophy and Logic ). Followi…
View article: From Known to Knower
From Known to Knower Open
This chapter examines the history of a certain kind of argument in the philosophy of mind, which stretches from Plato to the medieval period. According to this style of argument, we can establish the nature of the mind by thinking about th…
View article: THE SIMPLICITY OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE AFTER AVICENNA
THE SIMPLICITY OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE AFTER AVICENNA Open
Alongside his much-discussed theory that humans are permanently, if only tacitly, self-aware, Avicenna proposed that in actively conscious self-knowers the subject and object of thought are identical. He applies to both humans and God the …
View article: Studies on Early Arabic Philosophy
Studies on Early Arabic Philosophy Open
Contents: Preface. Reception of Greek Philosophy: Arabic philosophy and theology before Avicenna Aristotle in the Arabic commentary tradition The last philosophers of late antiquity in the Arabic tradition. Galen and Al-RAuzA: Galen and al…
View article: Al-Kindī
Al-Kindī Open
This book is a monographic presentation of the thought and work of the ninth century philosopher al-Kindī.Al-Kindī, whose complete name is Abū Yūsūf Ya'qū ibn Isḥāq al-Kindī, is usually considered to be the first Arabic philosopher and is …
View article: In the Age of al-Fārābī: Arabic Philosophy in the Fourth/Tenth Century
In the Age of al-Fārābī: Arabic Philosophy in the Fourth/Tenth Century Open
Ulrich Rudolph Reflections on al-Farabi's Mabadi' ara' ahl al-madina al-fadila Deborah L. Black Al-Farabi on Meno's Paradox Elias Giannakis Anaxagoras in the Baghdad Physics Carl Ehrig-Eggert Yahya ibn 'Adi on Universals and the Intellect …