Contextualizing Premodern Philosophy : Explorations of the Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin Traditions

This volume focuses on points of interaction between discrete historical contexts, religions, and cultures found within the premodern period. The contributions connect thinkers from antiquity through the Middle Ages and include philosophers from the three major monotheistic faiths-Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of Contributors Acknowledgments Narrating Premodern Philosophy in Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin: Origins, Developments, Innovations PART I: Traditions and Their Origins 1 Why the Prime Mover Is Not an Exclusively Final Cause: Alexander of Aphrodisias and Averroes 2 Philoponus and Forms 3 Pseudo-Ammonius’ Ārāʾ al-falāsifa and Its Influence on Early Ismāʿīlī Thought 4 Roger Bacon and His “Arabic” Sources in His Moralis philosophia 5 Averroes’ Commentaries on Book 7 of Aristotle’s Physics 6 The Influence of Mansūr Ibn Sarjūn (John of Damascus) on Aquinas’ Philosophy of Religious Worship 7 Ibn Taymiyya on Ibn Rushd in the Darʾ taʿāruḍ al-ʿaql wa-l-naql (with Special Attention to His Quotations of Ibn Rushd’s Tahāfut al-tahāfut) PART II: Traditions Facing Forward 8 How Light Makes Color Visible: The Reception of Some Greco-Arabic Theories (Aristotle, Avicenna, Averroes) in Medieval Paris, 1240s–50s 9 Anniyya faqaṭ Again: Reading Liber de causis 8[9] with Richard C. Taylor 10 Ontology and Logic in Avicenna’s Concept of Truth: A Commentary on Ilāhiyyāt 1.8 11 Al-Fārābī on What Is Known Prior to the Syllogistic Arts in His Introductory Letter, the Five Aphorisms, and the Book of Dialectic 12 Dominicus Gundissalinus’ On Unity and the One 13 Institution and Causality in Albert the Great’s Sacramental Theology 14 Averroes’ Decisive Treatise (Faṣl al-maqāl) and Exposition (Kashf) as Dialectical Works 15 Averroes on Imagination (takhayyul) as a Cognitive Power PART III: Forging New Traditions 16 The Emergence of a Science of Intellect: Albert the Great’s De intellectu et intelligibili 17 Action by Being Alone in the Plotiniana Arabica 18 “Incepit quasi a se”: Averroes on Avicenna’s Philosophy in the Long Commentary on the De anima 19 Averroist by Contagion? Marsilius of Padua on civilis scientia 20 Some Choice Words: Al-Ṭūsī’s Reconceptualization of the Issue of the World’s Age 21 Unfounded Assumptions: Reassessing the Differences among Averroes’ Three Kinds of Aristotelian Commentaries Appendix: “Aquinas and ‘the Arabs’”—A Short History Index "This volume brings together contributions from distinguished scholars in the history of philosophy, focusing on points of interaction between discrete historical contexts, religions, and cultures found within the premodern period. The contributions connect thinkers from antiquity through the Middle Ages and include philosophers from the three major monotheistic faiths-Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. By emphasizing premodern philosophy's shared textual roots in antiquity, particularly the writings of Plato and Aristotle, the volume highlights points of cross-pollination between different schools, cultures, and moments in premodern thought. Approaching the complex history of the premodern world in an accessible way, the editors organize the volume so as to underscore the difficulties the premodern period poses for scholars, while accentuating the fascinating interplay between the Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin philosophical traditions. The contributors cover many topics ranging from the aims of Aristotle's cosmos, the adoption of Aristotle's Organon by al-Farabi, and the origins of the Plotiniana Arabica to the role of Ibn Gabirol's Fons vitae in the Latin West, the ways in which Islamic philosophy shaped thirteenth-century Latin conceptions of light, Roger Bacon's adaptation of Avicenna for use in his moral philosophy, and beyond. The volume's focus on "source-based contextualism" demonstrates an appreciation for the rich diversity of thought found in the premodern period, while revealing methodological challenges raised by the historical study of premodern philosophy. Contextualizing Premodern Philosophy: Explorations of the Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin Traditions is a stimulating resource for scholars and advanced students working in the history of premodern philosophy"-- Provided by publisher This volume brings together contributions from distinguished scholars in the history of philosophy, focusing on points of interaction between discrete historical contexts, religions, and cultures found within the premodern period. The contributions connect thinkers from antiquity through the Middle Ages and include philosophers from the three major monotheistic faiths—Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. By emphasizing premodern philosophy's shared textual roots in antiquity, particularly the writings of Plato and Aristotle, the volume highlights points of cross-pollination between different schools, cultures, and moments in premodern thought. Approaching the complex history of the premodern world in an accessible way, the editors organize the volume so as to underscore the difficulties the premodern period poses for scholars, while accentuating the fascinating interplay between the Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin philosophical traditions. The contributors cover many topics ranging from the aims of Aristotle's cosmos, the adoption of Aristotle's Organon by al-Fārābī, and the origins of the Plotiniana Arabica to the role of Ibn Gabirol's Fons vitae in the Latin West, the ways in which Islamic philosophy shaped thirteenth-century Latin conceptions of light, Roger Bacon's adaptation of Avicenna for use in his moral philosophy, and beyond. The volume's focus on'source-based contextualism'demonstrates an appreciation for the rich diversity of thought found in the premodern period, while revealing methodological challenges raised by the historical study of premodern philosophy. Contextualizing Premodern Philosophy: Explorations of the Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin Traditions is a stimulating resource for scholars and advanced students working in the history of premodern philosophy.