Ibn Sina/Avicenna
‘Ibn Sina’s renown brought him the title ‘the leading eminent scholar’ (al-Shayk al Ra’is). Discuss the significance of his philosophical ideas with special focus on his distinction between his essence and existence, and its role in his proof for God as the necessary existent.’
Ibn Sina, or Avicenna, born 980 AD, was a leading polymath of many subjects; many of his theories are still renowned today; 240 of (approximately) 450 works can authentically be attributed to him, contributing to mainly medicine and philosophy, but also astronomy, physics, psychology, geology and even poetry. A devout Muslim and child prodigy, he had memorised the Qur’an by the age of ten, and quickly surpassed his teachers of the Hanafi Sunni school, and by the age of 16 was fully learned in the sciences of his time. After studying medicine, he turned his attention to physics and metaphysics, reading Aristotle’s Metaphysics forty times, until he had memorised it, yet he could not grasp its meaning until reading al-Farabi’s commentary which enlightened his problems of understanding. He began writing his own discourse on this topic and many others on his travels to Isfahan whilst working as a physician to Kings and other important figures, gaining prestige in medical matters and his knowledge of philosophy, theology and metaphysics was widely recognised. Even after his death in 1038 AD, his works have continued to influence philosophical and medical thought; his ‘canon of medicine’ served as the highest medical authority for 600 years, and the translation of kitab al-Shifa (Book of Healing) into Latin served as the starting point for many other prestigious thinkers, such as Aquinas, and this discourse will be further looked at here.
Avicenna is considered “the most famous and influential of the philosopher-scientists of the Islamic world” There are many other Islamic philosophers that have attempted to address metaphysics, but Ibn Sina’s works alone systematically and consistently focus on
Ibn Sina, or Avicenna, born 980 AD, was a leading polymath of many subjects; many of his theories are still renowned today; 240 of (approximately) 450 works can authentically be attributed to him, contributing to mainly medicine and philosophy, but also astronomy, physics, psychology, geology and even poetry. A devout Muslim and child prodigy, he had memorised the Qur’an by the age of ten, and quickly surpassed his teachers of the Hanafi Sunni school, and by the age of 16 was fully learned in the sciences of his time. After studying medicine, he turned his attention to physics and metaphysics, reading Aristotle’s Metaphysics forty times, until he had memorised it, yet he could not grasp its meaning until reading al-Farabi’s commentary which enlightened his problems of understanding. He began writing his own discourse on this topic and many others on his travels to Isfahan whilst working as a physician to Kings and other important figures, gaining prestige in medical matters and his knowledge of philosophy, theology and metaphysics was widely recognised. Even after his death in 1038 AD, his works have continued to influence philosophical and medical thought; his ‘canon of medicine’ served as the highest medical authority for 600 years, and the translation of kitab al-Shifa (Book of Healing) into Latin served as the starting point for many other prestigious thinkers, such as Aquinas, and this discourse will be further looked at here.
Avicenna is considered “the most famous and influential of the philosopher-scientists of the Islamic world” There are many other Islamic philosophers that have attempted to address metaphysics, but Ibn Sina’s works alone systematically and consistently focus on
Bibliography: * F. C. Bauerschmidt, Holy Teaching: Introducing the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas (Michigan, Brazos Press, 2005) * Robert Wisnovsky, “Avicenna and the Avicennan Tradition” in The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy, ed * Sebastian Gunther, “Be Masters in That You Teach and Continue to Learn: Medieval Muslim Thinkers on Educational theory” in Comparative Education Review, Vol. 50, No. 3, (August 2006) Article DOI: 10.1086/503881 Web Resources: * Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "Avicenna," accessed December 11, 2011, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/45755/Avicenna * http://quran.com/ accessed 15/12/11 [ 2 ]. Robert Wisnovsky, “Avicenna and the Avicennan Tradition” in The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy, ed. Peter Adamson and Richard C Taylor (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005) p. 92 [ 3 ] [ 6 ]. F. C. Bauerschmidt, Holy Teaching: Introducing the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas (Michigan, Brazos Press, 2005) p.57 [ 7 ] [ 8 ]. Sebastian Gunther, “Be Masters in That You Teach and Continue to Learn: Medieval Muslim Thinkers on Educational theory” in Comparative Education Review, Vol. 50, No. 3, (August 2006) pp.376 – 377 Article DOI: 10.1086/503881