Table Of Contentthe cambridge companion to
ARABIC PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy written in Arabic and in the Islamic world rep-
resents one of the great traditions of Western philosophy.
Inspired by Greek philosophical works and the indigenous
ideasofIslamictheology,Arabicphilosophersfromtheninth
centuryonwardsputforwardideasofgreatphilosophicaland
historical importance. This collection of essays, by some of
theleadingscholarsinArabicphilosophy,providesanintro-
duction to the field by way of chapters devoted to individ-
ual thinkers (such as al-Fa¯ra¯bı¯, Avicenna, and Averroes) or
groups,especiallyduringthe‘classical’periodfromtheninth
tothetwelfthcenturies.Italsoincludeschaptersonareasof
philosophicalinquiryacrossthetradition,suchasethicsand
metaphysics. Finally, it includes chapters on later Islamic
thought,andontheconnectionsbetweenArabicphilosophy
and Greek, Jewish, and Latin philosophy. The volume also
includesausefulbibliographyandachronologyofthemost
importantArabicthinkers.
othervolumesintheseriesofcambridgecompanions
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The Cambridge Companion to
A R A B I C
P H I L O S O P H Y
Editedby
Peter Adamson
King’sCollegeLondon
Richard C. Taylor
MarquetteUniversity
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contents
Notes on contributors page ix
Note on the text xiii
Chronology of major philosophers
in the Arabic tradition xv
1 Introduction 1
peter adamson and richard c. taylor
2 Greek into Arabic: Neoplatonism in translation 10
cristina d’ancona
3 Al-Kindı¯ and the reception of Greek philosophy 32
peter adamson
4 Al-Fa¯ra¯bı¯ and the philosophical curriculum 52
david c. reisman
5 The Isma¯‘ı¯lı¯s 72
paul e. walker
6 Avicenna and the Avicennian Tradition 92
robert wisnovsky
7 Al-Ghaza¯lı¯ 137
michael e. marmura
8 Philosophy in Andalusia: Ibn Ba¯jja and Ibn T.ufayl 155
josef puig montada
vii
viii Contents
9 Averroes: religious dialectic and Aristotelian
philosophical thought 180
richard c. taylor
10 Suhrawardı¯ and Illuminationism 201
john walbridge
11 Mysticism and philosophy: Ibn ‘Arabı¯ and
Mulla¯ S.adra¯ 224
sajjad h. rizvi
12 Logic 247
tony street
13 Ethical and political philosophy 266
charles e. butterworth
14 Natural philosophy 287
marwan rashed
15 Psychology: soul and intellect 308
deborah l. black
16 Metaphysics 327
the´re`se-anne druart
17 Islamic philosophy and Jewish philosophy 349
steven harvey
18 Arabic into Latin: the reception of Arabic
philosophy into Western Europe 370
charles burnett
19 Recent trends in Arabic and Persian philosophy 405
hossein ziai
Select bibliography and further reading 426
Index 442
notes on contributors
peter adamson is a Lecturer in Philosophy at King’s College
London. He has published several articles on the circle of al-Kindı¯
and is the author of The Arabic Plotinus: A Philosophical Study of
the“TheologyofAristotle”(2002).
deborah l. black isProfessorofPhilosophyandMedievalStud-
ies at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Logic and
Aristotle’s“Rhetoric”and“Poetics”inMedievalArabicPhilosophy
(1990), and of several articles on medieval Arabic and Latin philos-
ophy,focusingonissuesinepistemology,cognitivepsychology,and
metaphysics.
charles burnett is Professor in the History of Arabic/Islamic
InfluenceinEuropeattheWarburgInstitute,UniversityofLondon.
He has written extensively on the transmission of Arabic learning
totheWestandhaseditedseveralLatintranslationsofArabictexts.
charles e. butterworth isProfessorofGovernmentandPol-
itics at the University of Maryland, College Park. His publications
includecriticaleditionsofmostoftheMiddleCommentarieswritten
by Averroes on Aristotle’s logic; translations of books and treatises
byAverroes,al-Fa¯ra¯bı¯,andal-Ra¯zı¯,aswellasMaimonides;andstud-
ies of different aspects of the political teaching of these and other
thinkers in the ancient, medieval, and modern tradition of philoso-
phy.Inaddition,hehaswrittenmonographanalysesofthepolitical
thoughtofFrantzFanonandJean-JacquesRousseauandhasalsowrit-
ten extensively on contemporary Islamic political thought. He is a
memberofseverallearnedorganizations.
ix
x Notesoncontributors
cristina d’ancona is research assistant in the Department of
PhilosophyoftheUniversita` degliStudidiPisa.Herresearchfocuses
on Greek and Arabic Neoplatonism. The author of Recherches sur
le “Liber de Causis” (1995) and numerous articles about the trans-
mission of Greek thought into Arabic, she is currently writing a
commentaryonandtranslationoftheGraeco-ArabicPlotinus.
the´re`se-anne druart is Professor of Philosophy and Director
of the Center for Medieval and Byzantine Studies at The Catholic
UniversityofAmerica.Herrecentpublicationsinclude“Philosophy
in Islam” for The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Philosophy.
She publishes regular bibliographies in Islamic philosophy and the-
ologyandispreparingabookonal-Fa¯ra¯bı¯’smetaphysics.
steven harvey, Professor of Philosophy at Bar-Ilan University,
Israel, is the author of Falaquera’s Epistle of the Debate: An Intro-
ductiontoJewishPhilosophy(1987)andtheeditorofTheMedieval
Hebrew Encyclopedias of Science and Philosophy (2000). He has
written numerous articles on the medieval Jewish and Islamic
philosophers, with special focus on Averroes’ commentaries on
AristotleandontheinfluenceoftheIslamicphilosophersonJewish
thought.
michael e. marmura isProfessorEmeritusattheUniversityof
Toronto and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His area of
research is Islamic thought, and his publications in this area have
included numerous articles on Avicenna and al-Ghaza¯lı¯. They also
includeeditionsandtranslations,includingafacing-pagetranslation
ofal-Ghaza¯lı¯’sIncoherenceofthePhilosophers(1997)andAvicenna’s
Metaphysicsfromal-Shifa¯’(forthcoming).
josef puig montada is Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies
at Universidad Complutense of Madrid. He has edited and trans-
latedtextsofAvempaceandAverroes,onwhomhehaspublishedan
introductorymonograph,Averroes:juez,me´dicoyfilo´sofoandalusı´
(1998).HehasalsopublishedarticlesonanumberofArabthinkers
andonvarioussubjectsofIslamicphilosophyandtheology.
marwan rashed is research fellow at the CNRS in Paris. His
area of research includes ancient and medieval philosophy. He has
published Die U¨berlieferungsgeschichte der aristotelischen Schrift
Description:Philosophy written in Arabic and in the Islamic world represents one of the great traditions of Western philosophy. Inspired by Greek philosophical works and the indigenous ideas of Islamic theology, Arabic philosophers from the ninth century onwards put forward ideas of great philosophical and historical importance. This collection of essays, by some of the leading scholars in Arabic philosophy, provides an introduction to the field by way of chapters devoted to individual thinkers (such as al-Farabi, Avicenna and Averroes) or groups, especially during the 'classical' period from the ninth to the twelfth centuries. It also includes chapters on areas of philosophical inquiry across the tradition, such as ethics and metaphysics. Finally, it includes chapters on later Islamic thought, and on the connections between Arabic philosophy and Greek, Jewish, and Latin philosophy. The volume also includes a useful bibliography and a chronology of the most important Arabic thinkers.
