Neoplatonism and Islamic Thought

Neoplatonism and Islamic Thought PDF Author: Parviz Morewedge
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791413357
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
This book explores, through their Neoplatonism, the philosophies of four cultures: North African, Moorish Spanish, Greek, and Islamic. Originating in North Africa, Neoplatonism became the framework for philosophical reflection in these diverse cultural settings. Neoplatonic themes like emanationism are found in all of them, despite the difficulty of reconciling such philosophical ideas with religious orthodoxy. The wide appeal of Neoplatonism, perhaps, is due to its development of the mystical dimension of Platonism. From this perspective, this volume presents eternally recurring Neoplatonic themes like the monistic vision of the entire universe descending from a single principle, and a potentiality of a mystical ascent-- a return to the origin. In addition, this book investigates the questions of self knowledge, the relation between the universal and the particular soul, and the transformation of spiritual substance into bodily substance in these cultures. These studies offer a rich and varied perspective of these cultures themselves, revealing the spirit of each in its adaptation to Neoplatonism.

Neoplatonism and Islamic Thought

Neoplatonism and Islamic Thought PDF Author: Parviz Morewedge
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791413357
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book explores, through their Neoplatonism, the philosophies of four cultures: North African, Moorish Spanish, Greek, and Islamic. Originating in North Africa, Neoplatonism became the framework for philosophical reflection in these diverse cultural settings. Neoplatonic themes like emanationism are found in all of them, despite the difficulty of reconciling such philosophical ideas with religious orthodoxy. The wide appeal of Neoplatonism, perhaps, is due to its development of the mystical dimension of Platonism. From this perspective, this volume presents eternally recurring Neoplatonic themes like the monistic vision of the entire universe descending from a single principle, and a potentiality of a mystical ascent-- a return to the origin. In addition, this book investigates the questions of self knowledge, the relation between the universal and the particular soul, and the transformation of spiritual substance into bodily substance in these cultures. These studies offer a rich and varied perspective of these cultures themselves, revealing the spirit of each in its adaptation to Neoplatonism.

Al-Farabi, Founder of Islamic Neoplatonism

Al-Farabi, Founder of Islamic Neoplatonism PDF Author: Majid Fakhry
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1780746652
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
The only comprehensive introduction to al-Farabi - the first Islamic philosopher to translate the works of Plato and Aristotle. This new survey from a leading scholar documents the philosopher's life, writings and achievements.

Neoplatonism and Indian Thought

Neoplatonism and Indian Thought PDF Author: R. Baine Harris
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438405871
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
The nineteen essays that form this pioneering volume of comparative philosophy represent an exchange of ideas among specialists in Neoplatonism and specialists in Indian thought. These scholars have examined concepts and assertions that appear to be common to both philosophical traditions, as well as the possible historical influence of Indian sources upon late Greek philosophy, and specifically upon the Alexandrine Platonists. While most of the essays refer to Hinduism, several of them contain general surveys.

Neoplatonism and Islamic Thought

Neoplatonism and Islamic Thought PDF Author: Parviz Morewedge
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438413556
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
This book explores, through their Neoplatonism, the philosophies of four cultures: North African, Moorish Spanish, Greek, and Islamic. Originating in North Africa, Neoplatonism became the framework for philosophical reflection in these diverse cultural settings. Neoplatonic themes like emanationism are found in all of them, despite the difficulty of reconciling such philosophical ideas with religious orthodoxy. The wide appeal of Neoplatonism, perhaps, is due to its development of the mystical dimension of Platonism. From this perspective, this volume presents eternally recurring Neoplatonic themes like the monistic vision of the entire universe descending from a single principle, and a potentiality of a mystical ascent— a return to the origin. In addition, this book investigates the questions of self knowledge, the relation between the universal and the particular soul, and the transformation of spiritual substance into bodily substance in these cultures. These studies offer a rich and varied perspective of these cultures themselves, revealing the spirit of each in its adaptation to Neoplatonism.

Reason Unbound

Reason Unbound PDF Author: Mohammad Azadpur
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438437641
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 191

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Book Description
This intriguing work offers a new perspective on Islamic Peripatetic philosophy, critiquing modern receptions of such thought and highlighting the contribution it can make to contemporary Western philosophy. Mohammad Azadpur focuses on the thought of Alfarabi and Avicenna, who, like ancient Greek philosophers and some of their successors, viewed philosophy as a series of spiritual exercises. However, Muslim Peripatetics differed from their Greek counterparts in assigning importance to prophecy. The Islamic philosophical account of the cultivation of the soul to the point of prophecy unfolds new vistas of intellectual and imaginative experience and accords the philosopher an exceptional dignity and freedom. With reference to both Islamic and Western philosophers, Azadpur discusses how Islamic Peripatetic thought can provide an antidote to some of modernity's philosophical problems. A discussion of the development of later Islamic Peripatetic thought is also included.

A History of Islamic Philosophy

A History of Islamic Philosophy PDF Author: Majid Fakhry
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231132206
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
The first comprehensive survey of Islamic philosophy from the seventh century to the present, this classic discusses Islamic thought and its effect on the cultural aspects of Muslim life. Fakhry shows how Islamic philosophy has followed from the earliest times a distinctive line of development, which gives it the unity and continuity that are the marks of the great intellectual movements of history.

Al-Kindi's Metaphysics

Al-Kindi's Metaphysics PDF Author:
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438407653
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
Al-Kindi emerges as a philosopher who attempted to present, interpret, and supplement past philosophies as parts of an essentially unified tradition that would make for a viable philosophy in Islamic society. He assumes a place at or near the beginning of a philosophical current—based on transmission of studies from late Greek thought—that remained vital in the Islamic world for several centuries. Alfred L. Ivry presents a reevaluation of al-Kindi's relationships with the powerful group of theologians, Muʿtazilah. The commentary defines and interprets terms used by al-Kindi, identifies original Arabic and Greek sources, and analyzes the most recent critical research related to each allusion. Complete bibliography and index of Aristotelian sources.

Neoplatonism and Contemporary Thought

Neoplatonism and Contemporary Thought PDF Author: R. Baine Harris
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791452752
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 436

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Book Description
Leading scholars relate Neoplatonism to contemporary science and philosophy.

Neoplatonism and Jewish Thought

Neoplatonism and Jewish Thought PDF Author: Lenn E. Goodman
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438404409
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 468

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Book Description
This book deals primarily with the problem of the one and the many. The problems of creation, of evil, of revelation, and of ethics are all treated as special cases of the general problem of relating the finite to the infinite, the many to the one. The authors focus on the unifying theme of mediation, the means by which the Absolute relates to the here and now. The principal figures studied include Philo, Plotinus, Iamblichus, Isaac Israeli, Avicenna, Ibn Gabirol, Al-Ghazâlî, Abraham Ibn Daud, Maimonides, Averroes, Albertus Magnus, Aquinas, Gersonides, Nahmanides, Ibn Falaquera, Narboni, Albalag, Leone Ebreo (Judah Abarbanel), and Spinoza, as well as such Kabbalistic thinkers as Bahir, Cordovero, Luria, Moses de Leon, Ya'akov ben Sheshet, Isaac the Blind, Menahem Renanti, Shem Tov ben Shem Tov, Azriel of Gerona, Alemanno, Luzzato, Cordovero, and Abraham Herrera. The authors include David Winston, John Dillon, Carl Mathis, Bernard McGinn, Arthur Hyman, Alfred Ivry, Lenn E. Goodman, Menachem Kellner, David Burrell, Idit Dobbs-Weinstein, David Bleich, Seymour Feldman, Steven Katz, Moshe Idel, David Novak, Hubert Dethier, Richard Popkin, and Robert McLaren. Taken together, these essays offer an impressive historical survey of the ideas, achievements, and philosophic struggles of a group of men who worked to form a unique and durable tradition that bridged the gap between rival confessions and sects—mystics, rationalists, and empiricists; Jews, Christians, and Muslims. This is a philosophic source whose vitality is not yet exhausted.

Andalus and Sefarad

Andalus and Sefarad PDF Author: Sarah Stroumsa
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691176434
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
An integrative approach to Jewish and Muslim philosophy in al-Andalus Al-Andalus, the Iberian territory ruled by Islam from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries, was home to a flourishing philosophical culture among Muslims and the Jews who lived in their midst. Andalusians spoke proudly of the region's excellence, and indeed it engendered celebrated thinkers such as Maimonides and Averroes. Sarah Stroumsa offers an integrative new approach to Jewish and Muslim philosophy in al-Andalus, where the cultural commonality of the Islamicate world allowed scholars from diverse religious backgrounds to engage in the same philosophical pursuits. Stroumsa traces the development of philosophy in Muslim Iberia from its introduction to the region to the diverse forms it took over time, from Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism to rational theology and mystical philosophy. She sheds light on the way the politics of the day, including the struggles with the Christians to the north of the peninsula and the Fāṭimids in North Africa, influenced philosophy in al-Andalus yet affected its development among the two religious communities in different ways. While acknowledging the dissimilar social status of Muslims and members of the religious minorities, Andalus and Sefarad highlights the common ground that united philosophers, providing new perspective on the development of philosophy in Islamic Spain.