PHIL 634 Philosophy in the Islamic World
On the one hand, under the Abbasids (8th-10th centuries) many Greek philosophical texts, and in particular those of Aristotle, were translated from Greek into Arabic. On the other hand, as soon as Muslims felt the need to defend their faith, they elaborated philosophical concepts, as we can observe in Kalâm or theology. As Aristotelian concepts and Kalâm concepts did not always share the same presuppositions tensions arose between some philosophers who closely followed Aristotle and some theologians who found some of Aristotle's views incompatible with Islam. Some thinkers tried to integrate the two approaches. Philosophers in the Islamic world were from various ethnic backgrounds - few were Arab - and from various religious persuasion - not only Muslims but also Christians and Jews - but they all interacted and often used Arabic as their linguistic mode of communication. They developed interesting and sophisticated new positions and kept a philosophical tradition alive long after the Middle Ages. Some of their texts were translated into Latin in the XIIth Century and much influenced the Latin West, through people such as Roger Bacon, Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and Duns Scotus. Area II. Prerequisites: 201 and 202, or 211 and 212, or equivalent.
Cross Listed Courses
PHIL 334 & PHIL 634