Peter Adamson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195181425
- eISBN:
- 9780199785087
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195181425.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This monograph is a comprehensive study of the thought of al-Kindī, the first self-described philosopher in Islam, and the first to write original treatises in Arabic. Al-Kindī’s writings are closely ...
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This monograph is a comprehensive study of the thought of al-Kindī, the first self-described philosopher in Islam, and the first to write original treatises in Arabic. Al-Kindī’s writings are closely engaged with Greek philosophical and scientific texts, whose translation into Arabic he oversaw. Some of the philosophical views for which al-Kindī is known are reactions to Greek thinkers. For instance, he used ideas from Philoponus in arguing against the eternity of the world, and his discussion of divine attributes is based on Neoplatonic texts. However, the book also places al-Kindī’s thought within the context of 9th century Islamic culture, especially contemporary theological developments. The book covers every aspect of al-Kindī’s extant philosophical corpus, including not only his philosophical theology but also his theory of soul, his epistemology, and his ethics. Two chapters are devoted to al-Kindī’s works on the natural sciences (in particular pharmacology, optics, music, and cosmology). The book concludes by discussing how al-Kindī used Greek cosmological ideas in his account of divine providence.Less
This monograph is a comprehensive study of the thought of al-Kindī, the first self-described philosopher in Islam, and the first to write original treatises in Arabic. Al-Kindī’s writings are closely engaged with Greek philosophical and scientific texts, whose translation into Arabic he oversaw. Some of the philosophical views for which al-Kindī is known are reactions to Greek thinkers. For instance, he used ideas from Philoponus in arguing against the eternity of the world, and his discussion of divine attributes is based on Neoplatonic texts. However, the book also places al-Kindī’s thought within the context of 9th century Islamic culture, especially contemporary theological developments. The book covers every aspect of al-Kindī’s extant philosophical corpus, including not only his philosophical theology but also his theory of soul, his epistemology, and his ethics. Two chapters are devoted to al-Kindī’s works on the natural sciences (in particular pharmacology, optics, music, and cosmology). The book concludes by discussing how al-Kindī used Greek cosmological ideas in his account of divine providence.
Jon McGinnis
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195331479
- eISBN:
- 9780199868032
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331479.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The aim of the present work is threefold. One, it intends to place the thought of Avicenna within its proper historical context, whether the philosophical-scientific tradition inherited from the ...
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The aim of the present work is threefold. One, it intends to place the thought of Avicenna within its proper historical context, whether the philosophical-scientific tradition inherited from the Greeks or the indigenous influences coming from the medieval Islamic world. Thus, in addition to a substantive introductory chapter on the Greek and Arabic sources and influences to which Avicenna was heir, the historical and philosophical context central to Avicenna’s own thought is provided in order to assess and appreciate his achievement in the specific fields treated in that chapter. Two, the present volume aims to offer a philosophical survey of Avicenna’s entire system of thought ranging from his understanding of the interrelation of logic, physics, psychology, metaphysics, ethics, politics, and medicine. The emphasis here is on how, using a relatively small handful of novel insights, Avicenna was not only able to address a whole series of issues that had troubled earlier philosophers working in both the ancient Hellenistic and medieval Islamic world, but also how those insights fundamentally changed the direction philosophy took, certainly in the Islamic East, but even in the Jewish and Christian milieus. Three, the present volume will provide philosophers, historians of science, and students of medieval thought with a starting point from which to assess the place, significance, and influence of Avicenna and his philosophy within the history of ideas.Less
The aim of the present work is threefold. One, it intends to place the thought of Avicenna within its proper historical context, whether the philosophical-scientific tradition inherited from the Greeks or the indigenous influences coming from the medieval Islamic world. Thus, in addition to a substantive introductory chapter on the Greek and Arabic sources and influences to which Avicenna was heir, the historical and philosophical context central to Avicenna’s own thought is provided in order to assess and appreciate his achievement in the specific fields treated in that chapter. Two, the present volume aims to offer a philosophical survey of Avicenna’s entire system of thought ranging from his understanding of the interrelation of logic, physics, psychology, metaphysics, ethics, politics, and medicine. The emphasis here is on how, using a relatively small handful of novel insights, Avicenna was not only able to address a whole series of issues that had troubled earlier philosophers working in both the ancient Hellenistic and medieval Islamic world, but also how those insights fundamentally changed the direction philosophy took, certainly in the Islamic East, but even in the Jewish and Christian milieus. Three, the present volume will provide philosophers, historians of science, and students of medieval thought with a starting point from which to assess the place, significance, and influence of Avicenna and his philosophy within the history of ideas.
Ibrahim Kalin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199735242
- eISBN:
- 9780199852772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199735242.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter traces the history of the unification argument from the Greeks to Mullā Ṣadrā. It begins with earliest statements of the problem in Plato and Aristotle. Aristotle provides the first ...
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This chapter traces the history of the unification argument from the Greeks to Mullā Ṣadrā. It begins with earliest statements of the problem in Plato and Aristotle. Aristotle provides the first clear statement of the problem. However, he lends himself to multiple readings, and Ṣadrā does not miss the opportunity to read Aristotle as supporting the unification argument. Ṣadrā takes a similar approach in reading Alexander of Aphrodisias and Plotinus. The Muslim Peripatetics rejected the unification argument as a remnant of Plotinian mysticism for a number of ontological and epistemological reasons. They, however, accepted the idea when it applied to God only. Suhrawardī follows suit and denies the unification argument any epistemic legitimacy. It is against this long and complicated tradition that Ṣadrā tries to make his case for unification. While the debate over unification has many defenders and detractors in Islamic philosophy, in tracing its history, the chapter focuses on those whom Ṣadrā mentions explicitly in the Asfār and his other writings.Less
This chapter traces the history of the unification argument from the Greeks to Mullā Ṣadrā. It begins with earliest statements of the problem in Plato and Aristotle. Aristotle provides the first clear statement of the problem. However, he lends himself to multiple readings, and Ṣadrā does not miss the opportunity to read Aristotle as supporting the unification argument. Ṣadrā takes a similar approach in reading Alexander of Aphrodisias and Plotinus. The Muslim Peripatetics rejected the unification argument as a remnant of Plotinian mysticism for a number of ontological and epistemological reasons. They, however, accepted the idea when it applied to God only. Suhrawardī follows suit and denies the unification argument any epistemic legitimacy. It is against this long and complicated tradition that Ṣadrā tries to make his case for unification. While the debate over unification has many defenders and detractors in Islamic philosophy, in tracing its history, the chapter focuses on those whom Ṣadrā mentions explicitly in the Asfār and his other writings.
Dominic J. O’Meara
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199285532
- eISBN:
- 9780191717819
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199285532.003.0014
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This chapter discusses the theory of the perfect state developed by the Islamic philosopher al-Farabi. It is shown that in many respects, al-Farabi’s perfect state corresponds to the political ...
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This chapter discusses the theory of the perfect state developed by the Islamic philosopher al-Farabi. It is shown that in many respects, al-Farabi’s perfect state corresponds to the political paradigm that is found in the Neoplatonist philosophers of Late Antiquity, a paradigm adapted to al-Farabi’s context and interests. This suggests that Islamic political philosophy has roots in Late Antique Neoplatonism.Less
This chapter discusses the theory of the perfect state developed by the Islamic philosopher al-Farabi. It is shown that in many respects, al-Farabi’s perfect state corresponds to the political paradigm that is found in the Neoplatonist philosophers of Late Antiquity, a paradigm adapted to al-Farabi’s context and interests. This suggests that Islamic political philosophy has roots in Late Antique Neoplatonism.
Jon McGinnis
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195331479
- eISBN:
- 9780199868032
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331479.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Prior to Avicenna, philosophy in Arabic-speaking lands was identified with a Neoplatonized Aristotelianism; however, after him it was Avicenna’s philosophical vision that came to dominate, which ...
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Prior to Avicenna, philosophy in Arabic-speaking lands was identified with a Neoplatonized Aristotelianism; however, after him it was Avicenna’s philosophical vision that came to dominate, which itself incorporated the best of ancient Greek science and philosophy with the Islamic religion, law, and theology. Even among later Jewish and Christian philosophers, Avicenna was to have a significant influence. This chapter, thus, considers some of the more notable instances of Avicenna’s influence both on Judeo-Islamic philosophical theology and Christian scholasticism. The chapter gestures at Avicenna’s influence on such luminaries within the intellectual circles of Muslims and Jews as the great Islamic theologian al-Ghazālī, as-Suhrawardī, the founder of the Illuminationist school, and the renowned Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, while Christian philosophers in the Latin West inspired by Avicenna include Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and Duns Scotus.Less
Prior to Avicenna, philosophy in Arabic-speaking lands was identified with a Neoplatonized Aristotelianism; however, after him it was Avicenna’s philosophical vision that came to dominate, which itself incorporated the best of ancient Greek science and philosophy with the Islamic religion, law, and theology. Even among later Jewish and Christian philosophers, Avicenna was to have a significant influence. This chapter, thus, considers some of the more notable instances of Avicenna’s influence both on Judeo-Islamic philosophical theology and Christian scholasticism. The chapter gestures at Avicenna’s influence on such luminaries within the intellectual circles of Muslims and Jews as the great Islamic theologian al-Ghazālī, as-Suhrawardī, the founder of the Illuminationist school, and the renowned Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides, while Christian philosophers in the Latin West inspired by Avicenna include Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and Duns Scotus.
Ibrahim Kalin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199735242
- eISBN:
- 9780199852772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199735242.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter is devoted to a detailed analysis of Ṣadrā's theory of knowledge. As Ṣadrā insists on the principiality of existence in all philosophical problems, it begins with a survey of his ...
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This chapter is devoted to a detailed analysis of Ṣadrā's theory of knowledge. As Ṣadrā insists on the principiality of existence in all philosophical problems, it begins with a survey of his elaborate vocabulary of existence. Ṣadrā revises many of the erstwhile discussions of existence and rejects essence or quiddity (māhiyyah) as having no reality of its own. Instead, he proposes the “gradation” (tashkīk), “primacy”, and unity of existence as the main terms of his analysis. The chapter then turns to the relationship between existence and intelligibility. Ṣadrā holds that existence is intrinsically intelligible and does not need an outside agent such as a knower to be predicated of meaning-properties. Furthermore, existence is value-laden in that it is the source of such axiological qualities as goodness, perfection, and plenitude. His analysis thus ties together the three aspects of classical philosophy: ontology, epistemology and axiology.Less
This chapter is devoted to a detailed analysis of Ṣadrā's theory of knowledge. As Ṣadrā insists on the principiality of existence in all philosophical problems, it begins with a survey of his elaborate vocabulary of existence. Ṣadrā revises many of the erstwhile discussions of existence and rejects essence or quiddity (māhiyyah) as having no reality of its own. Instead, he proposes the “gradation” (tashkīk), “primacy”, and unity of existence as the main terms of his analysis. The chapter then turns to the relationship between existence and intelligibility. Ṣadrā holds that existence is intrinsically intelligible and does not need an outside agent such as a knower to be predicated of meaning-properties. Furthermore, existence is value-laden in that it is the source of such axiological qualities as goodness, perfection, and plenitude. His analysis thus ties together the three aspects of classical philosophy: ontology, epistemology and axiology.
William C. Chittick
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195139136
- eISBN:
- 9780199834075
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195139135.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Afdal al‐Dîn Kâshânî, better known as Bâbâ Afdal, died in the village of Maraq near Kashan in central Iran in the year 1210. Little is known of his life or his teachers, only that he taught in Maraq ...
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Afdal al‐Dîn Kâshânî, better known as Bâbâ Afdal, died in the village of Maraq near Kashan in central Iran in the year 1210. Little is known of his life or his teachers, only that he taught in Maraq and had many students. His Persian philosophical prose is the most beautiful in the language. He mentions Aristotle and Hermes among previous philosophers, but only alludes to his Muslim predecessors. His views, like those of the Ikhwân al‐Safâ’ and many others, are strongly tinged with Neoplatonism. He explains with rare clarity that the goal of philosophy is to actualize intelligence and to achieve human perfection. His positions on ontology, epistemology, ethics, politics, cosmology, and psychology are both original and traditional. In three chapters, the book introduces Bâbâ Afdal and his writings, describes the world view of Islamic philosophy, and analyzes significant terms of the philosophical vocabulary. In the main body of the book, more than half of Bâbâ Afdal's Persian writings are translated into English.Less
Afdal al‐Dîn Kâshânî, better known as Bâbâ Afdal, died in the village of Maraq near Kashan in central Iran in the year 1210. Little is known of his life or his teachers, only that he taught in Maraq and had many students. His Persian philosophical prose is the most beautiful in the language. He mentions Aristotle and Hermes among previous philosophers, but only alludes to his Muslim predecessors. His views, like those of the Ikhwân al‐Safâ’ and many others, are strongly tinged with Neoplatonism. He explains with rare clarity that the goal of philosophy is to actualize intelligence and to achieve human perfection. His positions on ontology, epistemology, ethics, politics, cosmology, and psychology are both original and traditional. In three chapters, the book introduces Bâbâ Afdal and his writings, describes the world view of Islamic philosophy, and analyzes significant terms of the philosophical vocabulary. In the main body of the book, more than half of Bâbâ Afdal's Persian writings are translated into English.
Frank Griffel
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195331622
- eISBN:
- 9780199867998
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331622.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Islam
Al-Ghazali (d. 1111) is one of the most important theologians, philosophers, and Sufis of Islam. Born around 1056 in northeastern Iran, he became the holder of the most prestigious academic post in ...
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Al-Ghazali (d. 1111) is one of the most important theologians, philosophers, and Sufis of Islam. Born around 1056 in northeastern Iran, he became the holder of the most prestigious academic post in Islamic theology in Baghdad, only to renounce that position and teach at small schools in the provinces for no money. His contributions to Islamic scholarship range from responding to the challenges of Aristotelian philosophy to creating a new type of mysticism in Islam, and integrating both these traditions—falsafa and Sufism—into the Sunni mainstream. Using the most authoritative sources, including reports of his students, his contemporaries, and his own letters, this book reconstructs every stage in al-Ghazali’s turbulent career. The al-Ghazali that emerges still offers many surprises, particularly on his motives for leaving Baghdad and the nature of his “seclusion” afterwards. In its close study of al-Ghazali’s cosmology—meaning, how God creates things and events in the world, how human acts relate to God’s power, and how the universe is structured—the book reveals the significant philosophical influence on al-Ghazali. His cosmology has always been one of the most challenging aspects of his work. This book shows how al-Ghazali created a new discourse on cosmology that moved away from concerns held earlier among Muslim theologians and Arab philosophers. This new cosmology was structured to provide a framework for the pursuit of the natural sciences and a basis for science and philosophy in Islam to continue to flourish beyond the 12th century.Less
Al-Ghazali (d. 1111) is one of the most important theologians, philosophers, and Sufis of Islam. Born around 1056 in northeastern Iran, he became the holder of the most prestigious academic post in Islamic theology in Baghdad, only to renounce that position and teach at small schools in the provinces for no money. His contributions to Islamic scholarship range from responding to the challenges of Aristotelian philosophy to creating a new type of mysticism in Islam, and integrating both these traditions—falsafa and Sufism—into the Sunni mainstream. Using the most authoritative sources, including reports of his students, his contemporaries, and his own letters, this book reconstructs every stage in al-Ghazali’s turbulent career. The al-Ghazali that emerges still offers many surprises, particularly on his motives for leaving Baghdad and the nature of his “seclusion” afterwards. In its close study of al-Ghazali’s cosmology—meaning, how God creates things and events in the world, how human acts relate to God’s power, and how the universe is structured—the book reveals the significant philosophical influence on al-Ghazali. His cosmology has always been one of the most challenging aspects of his work. This book shows how al-Ghazali created a new discourse on cosmology that moved away from concerns held earlier among Muslim theologians and Arab philosophers. This new cosmology was structured to provide a framework for the pursuit of the natural sciences and a basis for science and philosophy in Islam to continue to flourish beyond the 12th century.
Shafique N. Virani
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195311730
- eISBN:
- 9780199785490
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195311730.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
“None of that people should be spared, not even the babe in its cradle”. With these chilling words, the Mongol warlord Genghis Khan declared his intention to destroy the Ismailis, one of the most ...
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“None of that people should be spared, not even the babe in its cradle”. With these chilling words, the Mongol warlord Genghis Khan declared his intention to destroy the Ismailis, one of the most intellectually and politically significant Muslim communities of medieval Islamdom. The massacres that followed convinced observers that this powerful voice of Shi'i Islam had been forever silenced. Little was heard of these people for centuries, until their recent and dramatic emergence from obscurity. Today they exist as a dynamic and thriving community established in over twenty-five countries. Yet the interval between what appeared to have been their total annihilation, and their modern, seemingly phoenix-like renaissance has remained shrouded in mystery. This book probes the period from the dark days when the Ismaili fortresses in Iran fell one by one before the marauding Mongol hordes, to the emergence at Anjudan of the Ismaili Imams as the spiritual center of a community scattered across much of the Muslim world. The work explores the motivations, passions, and presumptions of historical actors while contemplating the esoteric worldview that animated the Ismailis and gave them the wherewithal to persevere. It explains how three aspects of Ismaili thought were crucial to the community's survival: taqiyya (precautionary dissimulation); the Ismaili da'wa, which literally means “summons”; and the soteriological dimension of the imamate and, in particular, of the role of the Imam of one's time in leading the adept to salvation and a mystical recognition of God.Less
“None of that people should be spared, not even the babe in its cradle”. With these chilling words, the Mongol warlord Genghis Khan declared his intention to destroy the Ismailis, one of the most intellectually and politically significant Muslim communities of medieval Islamdom. The massacres that followed convinced observers that this powerful voice of Shi'i Islam had been forever silenced. Little was heard of these people for centuries, until their recent and dramatic emergence from obscurity. Today they exist as a dynamic and thriving community established in over twenty-five countries. Yet the interval between what appeared to have been their total annihilation, and their modern, seemingly phoenix-like renaissance has remained shrouded in mystery. This book probes the period from the dark days when the Ismaili fortresses in Iran fell one by one before the marauding Mongol hordes, to the emergence at Anjudan of the Ismaili Imams as the spiritual center of a community scattered across much of the Muslim world. The work explores the motivations, passions, and presumptions of historical actors while contemplating the esoteric worldview that animated the Ismailis and gave them the wherewithal to persevere. It explains how three aspects of Ismaili thought were crucial to the community's survival: taqiyya (precautionary dissimulation); the Ismaili da'wa, which literally means “summons”; and the soteriological dimension of the imamate and, in particular, of the role of the Imam of one's time in leading the adept to salvation and a mystical recognition of God.
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226471075
- eISBN:
- 9780226471099
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226471099.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter discusses a monumental project on Islamic philosophy and science. It specifically considers cross-pollinations in philosophy and science that were to have a profound effect in the Latin ...
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This chapter discusses a monumental project on Islamic philosophy and science. It specifically considers cross-pollinations in philosophy and science that were to have a profound effect in the Latin West and in the Islamic world. The tension between philosophy and religion in Islamic times is evaluated. The beginnings of both philosophy and science in medieval Islam can be traced to the introduction of Arabic as a language. The analysis of science and philosophy was initially advanced by translators drawn from the Hellenized Christian and pagan communities of the pre-Islamic Near East. Medical education was probably uniform for all who practiced regardless of their faith community. The practical experience of working in a hospital was the final stage of medical education. Some early Zionist and current Israeli visionaries saw and continue to see the Jews as playing a central role in the transfer of valued knowledge.Less
This chapter discusses a monumental project on Islamic philosophy and science. It specifically considers cross-pollinations in philosophy and science that were to have a profound effect in the Latin West and in the Islamic world. The tension between philosophy and religion in Islamic times is evaluated. The beginnings of both philosophy and science in medieval Islam can be traced to the introduction of Arabic as a language. The analysis of science and philosophy was initially advanced by translators drawn from the Hellenized Christian and pagan communities of the pre-Islamic Near East. Medical education was probably uniform for all who practiced regardless of their faith community. The practical experience of working in a hospital was the final stage of medical education. Some early Zionist and current Israeli visionaries saw and continue to see the Jews as playing a central role in the transfer of valued knowledge.
Ibrahim Kalin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199735242
- eISBN:
- 9780199852772
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199735242.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The 17th-century philosopher Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, known as Mullā Ṣadrā, attempted to reconcile the three major forms of knowledge in Islamic philosophical discourses: revelation (Qurʼān), ...
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The 17th-century philosopher Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, known as Mullā Ṣadrā, attempted to reconcile the three major forms of knowledge in Islamic philosophical discourses: revelation (Qurʼān), demonstration (burhan), and gnosis or intuitive knowledge (ʼirfan). In his grand synthesis, which he calls the “Transcendent Wisdom”, Mullā Ṣadrā bases his epistemological considerations on a robust analysis of existence and its modalities. His key claim, that knowledge is a mode of existence, rejects and revises the Kalam definitions of knowledge as relation and as a property of the knower on the one hand, and the Avicennan notions of knowledge as abstraction and representation on the other. For Ṣadrā, all these theories land us in a subjectivist theory of knowledge where the knowing subject is defined as the primary locus of all epistemic claims. To explore the possibilities of a “non-subjectivist” epistemology, Ṣadrā seeks to shift the focus from knowledge as a mental act of representation to knowledge as presence and unveiling. For Ṣadrā, in knowing things, we unveil an aspect of existence and thus engage with the countless modalities and colors of the all-inclusive reality of existence. In such a framework, we give up the subjectivist claims of ownership of meaning. The intrinsic intelligibility of existence strips the knowing subject of its privileged position of being the sole creator of meaning. Instead, meaning and intelligibility are defined as functions of existence to be deciphered and unveiled by the knowing subject. This leads to a redefinition of the relationship between subject and object.Less
The 17th-century philosopher Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, known as Mullā Ṣadrā, attempted to reconcile the three major forms of knowledge in Islamic philosophical discourses: revelation (Qurʼān), demonstration (burhan), and gnosis or intuitive knowledge (ʼirfan). In his grand synthesis, which he calls the “Transcendent Wisdom”, Mullā Ṣadrā bases his epistemological considerations on a robust analysis of existence and its modalities. His key claim, that knowledge is a mode of existence, rejects and revises the Kalam definitions of knowledge as relation and as a property of the knower on the one hand, and the Avicennan notions of knowledge as abstraction and representation on the other. For Ṣadrā, all these theories land us in a subjectivist theory of knowledge where the knowing subject is defined as the primary locus of all epistemic claims. To explore the possibilities of a “non-subjectivist” epistemology, Ṣadrā seeks to shift the focus from knowledge as a mental act of representation to knowledge as presence and unveiling. For Ṣadrā, in knowing things, we unveil an aspect of existence and thus engage with the countless modalities and colors of the all-inclusive reality of existence. In such a framework, we give up the subjectivist claims of ownership of meaning. The intrinsic intelligibility of existence strips the knowing subject of its privileged position of being the sole creator of meaning. Instead, meaning and intelligibility are defined as functions of existence to be deciphered and unveiled by the knowing subject. This leads to a redefinition of the relationship between subject and object.
L. W. C. van Lit
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474415859
- eISBN:
- 9781474435024
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474415859.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This book traces the notion of a world of image from its conception until today. This notion is one of the most original innovations in medieval Islamic philosophy, and is unique compared to other ...
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This book traces the notion of a world of image from its conception until today. This notion is one of the most original innovations in medieval Islamic philosophy, and is unique compared to other parts of the history of philosophy. The notion originated out of discussions on the fate of human beings after death; would this be spiritual only or physical as well? The world of image suggests that there exists a world of non-physical (imagined) bodies, beyond our earthly existence. This world may be entered after death and glimpses of it may already be witnessed during sleep or meditation. Ibn Sīnā (d. 1037) was the first to suggest something along these lines, arguing that people could simply imagine their afterlife without the need for it to be actually physical. Suhrawardī (d. 1191) included this suggestion in his innovative thinking on epistemology, known as ‘knowledge by presence’, without fully ontologizing it. Shahrazūrī (d. > 1286), finally, turned Suhrawardī’s thinking into the full-blown notion of a world of image. Notably through Taftāzānī (d. 1390) and Shaykh Bahāʾī (d. 1621), the idea gained wider popularity and continued to be discussed, especially in Shīʿī circles, up to this day. This book gives an insight into late medieval and early modern Islamic philosophy, especially the role of commentary writing. It sets the record straight for the provenance and development of the world of image and reconsiders the importance of Suhrawardī for the development of philosophy in the Islamic world.Less
This book traces the notion of a world of image from its conception until today. This notion is one of the most original innovations in medieval Islamic philosophy, and is unique compared to other parts of the history of philosophy. The notion originated out of discussions on the fate of human beings after death; would this be spiritual only or physical as well? The world of image suggests that there exists a world of non-physical (imagined) bodies, beyond our earthly existence. This world may be entered after death and glimpses of it may already be witnessed during sleep or meditation. Ibn Sīnā (d. 1037) was the first to suggest something along these lines, arguing that people could simply imagine their afterlife without the need for it to be actually physical. Suhrawardī (d. 1191) included this suggestion in his innovative thinking on epistemology, known as ‘knowledge by presence’, without fully ontologizing it. Shahrazūrī (d. > 1286), finally, turned Suhrawardī’s thinking into the full-blown notion of a world of image. Notably through Taftāzānī (d. 1390) and Shaykh Bahāʾī (d. 1621), the idea gained wider popularity and continued to be discussed, especially in Shīʿī circles, up to this day. This book gives an insight into late medieval and early modern Islamic philosophy, especially the role of commentary writing. It sets the record straight for the provenance and development of the world of image and reconsiders the importance of Suhrawardī for the development of philosophy in the Islamic world.
Kenneth Garden
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199989621
- eISBN:
- 9780199395590
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199989621.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Al-Ghazali’s departure from Baghdad in 1095 has been understood as the result of a spiritual crisis that led him to a radical break with his past thinking and an embrace of Sufism. But his Scale of ...
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Al-Ghazali’s departure from Baghdad in 1095 has been understood as the result of a spiritual crisis that led him to a radical break with his past thinking and an embrace of Sufism. But his Scale of Action, a work written very shortly before this date, shows a supremely confident al-Ghazali, not a man plagued by doubt. It further shows al-Ghazali’s major concern being the quest for “felicity” (sa?ʿāda) in the hereafter, a state above salvation alone and the ultimate objective of Islamic philosophers, whose method for attaining it al-Ghazali prefers in that book. Though the Revival of the Religious Sciences is a vastly larger book written after 1095, its fundamental objective remains the same.Less
Al-Ghazali’s departure from Baghdad in 1095 has been understood as the result of a spiritual crisis that led him to a radical break with his past thinking and an embrace of Sufism. But his Scale of Action, a work written very shortly before this date, shows a supremely confident al-Ghazali, not a man plagued by doubt. It further shows al-Ghazali’s major concern being the quest for “felicity” (sa?ʿāda) in the hereafter, a state above salvation alone and the ultimate objective of Islamic philosophers, whose method for attaining it al-Ghazali prefers in that book. Though the Revival of the Religious Sciences is a vastly larger book written after 1095, its fundamental objective remains the same.
Kenneth Garden
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199989621
- eISBN:
- 9780199395590
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199989621.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Al-Ghazali’s masterpiece, the Revival of the Religious Sciences, has been misunderstood and mischaracterized. It is not a work of Sufism, but of what al-Ghazali calls the “Science of the Hereafter.” ...
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Al-Ghazali’s masterpiece, the Revival of the Religious Sciences, has been misunderstood and mischaracterized. It is not a work of Sufism, but of what al-Ghazali calls the “Science of the Hereafter.” This science, in turn, is divided into the “Science of Praxis” and the “Science of Unveiling,” and the Revival focuses on the former. Praxis aims ultimately at Unveiling, knowledge of God and His creation, whose reward is “felicity” in the hereafter, a reward above the salvation enjoyed by most believers. Praxis begins with following the law in a spirit that looks beyond its letter to the higher goal of single-minded dedication to God. It further entails the cultivation of ethical self-perfection through methods drawn from both Sufism and philosophy.Less
Al-Ghazali’s masterpiece, the Revival of the Religious Sciences, has been misunderstood and mischaracterized. It is not a work of Sufism, but of what al-Ghazali calls the “Science of the Hereafter.” This science, in turn, is divided into the “Science of Praxis” and the “Science of Unveiling,” and the Revival focuses on the former. Praxis aims ultimately at Unveiling, knowledge of God and His creation, whose reward is “felicity” in the hereafter, a reward above the salvation enjoyed by most believers. Praxis begins with following the law in a spirit that looks beyond its letter to the higher goal of single-minded dedication to God. It further entails the cultivation of ethical self-perfection through methods drawn from both Sufism and philosophy.
Kenneth Garden
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199989621
- eISBN:
- 9780199395590
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199989621.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Building on recent revisionist scholarship, this book offers a new overview of the last two decades of the life of the seminal 11th-century Islamic thinker Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111). It focuses ...
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Building on recent revisionist scholarship, this book offers a new overview of the last two decades of the life of the seminal 11th-century Islamic thinker Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111). It focuses on his masterpiece, the Revival of the Religious Sciences, and argues that al-Ghazali was the first Muslim thinker to self-consciously marshal the rhetoric of revival to promote his new vision of the Islamic religious sciences. This vision was not a Sufi one, as has often been asserted. Rather, the “Science of the Hereafter” that is the subject of the Revival draws on Islamic law, Sufism, and the philosophy al-Ghazali is understood to have refuted. While his autobiography suggests that his masterpiece grew out of a radical break with his earlier thought, a reading of his earlier work shows that its major theses were present before his famous spiritual crisis. Al-Ghazali’s letters show him actively promoting his revivalist agenda in the final decade and a half of his life. Reconstructing a controversy over the Revival later in his life, this book contextualizes al-Ghazali’s famous autobiography and explains what led him to give such a misleading account of his life and thought.Less
Building on recent revisionist scholarship, this book offers a new overview of the last two decades of the life of the seminal 11th-century Islamic thinker Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111). It focuses on his masterpiece, the Revival of the Religious Sciences, and argues that al-Ghazali was the first Muslim thinker to self-consciously marshal the rhetoric of revival to promote his new vision of the Islamic religious sciences. This vision was not a Sufi one, as has often been asserted. Rather, the “Science of the Hereafter” that is the subject of the Revival draws on Islamic law, Sufism, and the philosophy al-Ghazali is understood to have refuted. While his autobiography suggests that his masterpiece grew out of a radical break with his earlier thought, a reading of his earlier work shows that its major theses were present before his famous spiritual crisis. Al-Ghazali’s letters show him actively promoting his revivalist agenda in the final decade and a half of his life. Reconstructing a controversy over the Revival later in his life, this book contextualizes al-Ghazali’s famous autobiography and explains what led him to give such a misleading account of his life and thought.
Arshin Adib-Moghaddam
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- December 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199333523
- eISBN:
- 9780190235611
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199333523.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Chapter 2 delves into the depth of the grammatical structure of the clash regime. In its wealth of exclusionary dictums the clash regime circulates around a set of syntactical, epistemological and ...
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Chapter 2 delves into the depth of the grammatical structure of the clash regime. In its wealth of exclusionary dictums the clash regime circulates around a set of syntactical, epistemological and methodological devices. These can be discerned from the writings of “guild” historians, as well as from the books and pamphlets of colonial functionaries, and in response to them, in the tracts of Islamists. The nuances, tensions, differences and commonalities between those attitudes cannot be satisfactorily deciphered, it is argued in this chapter, without going through the pains of identifying their ‘syntactical’ structure.Less
Chapter 2 delves into the depth of the grammatical structure of the clash regime. In its wealth of exclusionary dictums the clash regime circulates around a set of syntactical, epistemological and methodological devices. These can be discerned from the writings of “guild” historians, as well as from the books and pamphlets of colonial functionaries, and in response to them, in the tracts of Islamists. The nuances, tensions, differences and commonalities between those attitudes cannot be satisfactorily deciphered, it is argued in this chapter, without going through the pains of identifying their ‘syntactical’ structure.
Omnia El Shakry
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691174792
- eISBN:
- 9781400888030
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691174792.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
In 1945, psychologist Yusuf Murad introduced an Arabic term borrowed from the medieval Sufi philosopher and mystic Ibn ʿArabi—al-la-shuʿur—as a translation for Sigmund Freud's concept of the ...
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In 1945, psychologist Yusuf Murad introduced an Arabic term borrowed from the medieval Sufi philosopher and mystic Ibn ʿArabi—al-la-shuʿur—as a translation for Sigmund Freud's concept of the unconscious. By the late 1950s, Freud's Interpretation of Dreams had been translated into Arabic for an eager Egyptian public. This book challenges the notion of a strict divide between psychoanalysis and Islam by tracing how postwar thinkers in Egypt blended psychoanalytic theories with concepts from classical Islamic thought in a creative encounter of ethical engagement. The book provides an in-depth examination of psychoanalysis in Egypt and reveals how a new science of psychology—or “science of the soul,” as it came to be called—was inextricably linked to Islam and mysticism. It explores how Freudian ideas of the unconscious were crucial to the formation of modern discourses of subjectivity in areas as diverse as psychology, Islamic philosophy, and the law. Founding figures of Egyptian psychoanalysis, the book shows, debated the temporality of the psyche, mystical states, the sexual drive, and the Oedipus complex, while offering startling insights into the nature of psychic life, ethics, and eros. The book invites us to rethink the relationship between psychoanalysis and religion in the modern era. Mapping the points of intersection between Islamic discourses and psychoanalytic thought, it illustrates how the Arabic Freud, like psychoanalysis itself, was elaborated across the space of human difference.Less
In 1945, psychologist Yusuf Murad introduced an Arabic term borrowed from the medieval Sufi philosopher and mystic Ibn ʿArabi—al-la-shuʿur—as a translation for Sigmund Freud's concept of the unconscious. By the late 1950s, Freud's Interpretation of Dreams had been translated into Arabic for an eager Egyptian public. This book challenges the notion of a strict divide between psychoanalysis and Islam by tracing how postwar thinkers in Egypt blended psychoanalytic theories with concepts from classical Islamic thought in a creative encounter of ethical engagement. The book provides an in-depth examination of psychoanalysis in Egypt and reveals how a new science of psychology—or “science of the soul,” as it came to be called—was inextricably linked to Islam and mysticism. It explores how Freudian ideas of the unconscious were crucial to the formation of modern discourses of subjectivity in areas as diverse as psychology, Islamic philosophy, and the law. Founding figures of Egyptian psychoanalysis, the book shows, debated the temporality of the psyche, mystical states, the sexual drive, and the Oedipus complex, while offering startling insights into the nature of psychic life, ethics, and eros. The book invites us to rethink the relationship between psychoanalysis and religion in the modern era. Mapping the points of intersection between Islamic discourses and psychoanalytic thought, it illustrates how the Arabic Freud, like psychoanalysis itself, was elaborated across the space of human difference.
Kenneth Garden
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199989621
- eISBN:
- 9780199395590
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199989621.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Earlier generations of scholarship had presented al-Ghazali as an inwardly directed mystic primarily concerned with his own salvation and the definitive refuter of Islam’s philosophical tradition. ...
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Earlier generations of scholarship had presented al-Ghazali as an inwardly directed mystic primarily concerned with his own salvation and the definitive refuter of Islam’s philosophical tradition. However, a new wave of revisionist scholarship has shown him to be an appropriator of both philosophy and Sufism who did not identify fully with either. This book offers a new narrative of al-Ghazali’s life and thought, focusing on his masterpiece, the Revival of the Religious Sciences, and presenting him as an engaged religious scholar who aimed to transform the religious landscape of his age. Rather than an inward-directed seeker, al-Ghazali was an outward-directed reviver, the first in the Islamic tradition to so consciously marshal the rhetoric of revival and reform.Less
Earlier generations of scholarship had presented al-Ghazali as an inwardly directed mystic primarily concerned with his own salvation and the definitive refuter of Islam’s philosophical tradition. However, a new wave of revisionist scholarship has shown him to be an appropriator of both philosophy and Sufism who did not identify fully with either. This book offers a new narrative of al-Ghazali’s life and thought, focusing on his masterpiece, the Revival of the Religious Sciences, and presenting him as an engaged religious scholar who aimed to transform the religious landscape of his age. Rather than an inward-directed seeker, al-Ghazali was an outward-directed reviver, the first in the Islamic tradition to so consciously marshal the rhetoric of revival and reform.
Ibrahim Kalin
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- June 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199451173
- eISBN:
- 9780199082858
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199451173.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This book surveys Mulla Sadra’s thought and situates it in the Islamic intellectual tradition. As one of the most prominent figures of post-Avicennan Islamic philosophy, Mulla Sadra sought, in his ...
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This book surveys Mulla Sadra’s thought and situates it in the Islamic intellectual tradition. As one of the most prominent figures of post-Avicennan Islamic philosophy, Mulla Sadra sought, in his time (the seventeenth century) to revive the study of philosophy as both logical analysis and spiritual exercise. His writings combine qurʾan (revealed knowledge), burhan (demonstrative, logical knowledge) and irfan (realized, mystical knowledge) as the foundation of an integrated epistemology. Sadra’s ‘Transcendent Wisdom’ (al-hikmat al-mutaʾaliyah), the name he has given to his own school of thought, is based on the fundamental insight that beings derive their reality from existence (al-wujud) and that all philosophical and epistemological considerations must begin and end with the principle of existence. In contrast to the Peripatetic philosophers and theologians before him, Sadra treats existence not as an accident or static concept but as a dynamic and all-encompassing reality. Along the ‘four journeys’ of his philosophical quest, Sadra produces a world-picture that is a reflection of the infinite symphony of existence and its modalities. His penetrating deliberations on the human state and spiritual anthropology provide one of the most profound statements of the underlying unity between humans, the universe and the Divine. This book takes the reader through the elaborate and rich world of Sadra’s intellectual journey and shows its relevance for today’s philosophical issues in the Islamic and Western worlds.Less
This book surveys Mulla Sadra’s thought and situates it in the Islamic intellectual tradition. As one of the most prominent figures of post-Avicennan Islamic philosophy, Mulla Sadra sought, in his time (the seventeenth century) to revive the study of philosophy as both logical analysis and spiritual exercise. His writings combine qurʾan (revealed knowledge), burhan (demonstrative, logical knowledge) and irfan (realized, mystical knowledge) as the foundation of an integrated epistemology. Sadra’s ‘Transcendent Wisdom’ (al-hikmat al-mutaʾaliyah), the name he has given to his own school of thought, is based on the fundamental insight that beings derive their reality from existence (al-wujud) and that all philosophical and epistemological considerations must begin and end with the principle of existence. In contrast to the Peripatetic philosophers and theologians before him, Sadra treats existence not as an accident or static concept but as a dynamic and all-encompassing reality. Along the ‘four journeys’ of his philosophical quest, Sadra produces a world-picture that is a reflection of the infinite symphony of existence and its modalities. His penetrating deliberations on the human state and spiritual anthropology provide one of the most profound statements of the underlying unity between humans, the universe and the Divine. This book takes the reader through the elaborate and rich world of Sadra’s intellectual journey and shows its relevance for today’s philosophical issues in the Islamic and Western worlds.
Denise Gill
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190495008
- eISBN:
- 9780190495039
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190495008.003.0003
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music
Chapter 2 demonstrates the depth to which rhizomatic analysis can be utilized with a single sound and word: Hû. I study Hû as a sound, as instrument technique for the end-blown reed flute, the ney, ...
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Chapter 2 demonstrates the depth to which rhizomatic analysis can be utilized with a single sound and word: Hû. I study Hû as a sound, as instrument technique for the end-blown reed flute, the ney, as sacred embodiment, and as representative of the city of Istanbul. This chapter also offers a history of Sufism in relation to contemporary Turkish classical music production. This chapter challenges secular discursive and theoretical frameworks used to analyze Turkish classical music as I focus on Hû as a case study to demonstrate how we can identify spirituality and melancholy in something as small as a single sound.Less
Chapter 2 demonstrates the depth to which rhizomatic analysis can be utilized with a single sound and word: Hû. I study Hû as a sound, as instrument technique for the end-blown reed flute, the ney, as sacred embodiment, and as representative of the city of Istanbul. This chapter also offers a history of Sufism in relation to contemporary Turkish classical music production. This chapter challenges secular discursive and theoretical frameworks used to analyze Turkish classical music as I focus on Hû as a case study to demonstrate how we can identify spirituality and melancholy in something as small as a single sound.
