The Story of Islamic Philosophy: Ibn Tufayl, Ibn Al-'arabi, and Others on the Limit Between Naturalism and Traditionalism

by Bashier, Salman H.

• ISBN13: 9781438437422
• ISBN10: 1438437420
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-07-02
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

Offers a new interpretation of medieval Islamic philosophy, one informed by Platonic mysticism.

Author Biography

Salman H. Bashier is a Polonsky Postdoctoral Fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute in Israel. He is the author of Ibn' al-Arabi's Barzakh: The Concept of the Limit and the Relationship between God and the World, also published by SUNY Press.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
List of Abbreviations	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
The File of Illuminationist Philosophy and the Purpose of Writing Hayy	p. 13
The Legend of Eastern Philosophy
Eastern and Western Schools of Philosophy
Plato and Aristotle: The Heart and the Voice of Islamic Philosophy
The Purpose of Writing Hayy
The Introduction	p. 29
Mystical Expression and Experience: Fundamental Sufi Concepts
Knowledge 1, Knowledge2, and Ghazalis Niche of Lights
Ibn Sina's Liminal Depiction of the Mystical Experience
Salaman and Absal: The Hermetistic Version
Ibn Sina's Version
The Naturalistic Account of Hayy's Birth	p. 43
Ibn Tufayl's Method of Concealment
Spontaneous Generation
A Liminal Depiction of the Chain of Existents
In the Earth of Barzakh
Plato's Myth of Spontaneous Generation
The Traditionalistic Account from the End	p. 57
Divine Origins and Illuminative Gradations
Imitation and Interpretation
Ibn Tufayl's Liminal Declaration
The Origination of the World	p. 67
Between Plato and Aristotle
Aristotle's Concept of the Infinite
Ibn Tufayl's Liminal Stand
The Shadow of Farabi	p. 75
Philosophy's Ultimate Mission
The Origination of Language
The Quest for Unity
The Development of Meanings
Two Conceptions of Dialectic
The Shadow of Ibn Bajja	p. 87
Ibn Bajja on the Chain of Existents and Self-Intellection
The Presence of the Parable of the Cave
The Traditionalistic Account from the Beginning	p. 97
The Emphasis on Balance and Equilibrium
The Discovery of Fire
The Sleepers in the Cave
The Encounter between Moses and al-Khadir
Moses in Fusus al-Hikam
Gilgamesh: The One Who Saw the Abyss	p. 115
The Builder of the Great Walls and the Man-As-He-Was-In-The-Beginning
Intercourse as an Act of Writing
In Company with Gilgamesh
Enkidu's Death
The Quest for Eternal Life
The Encounter with Utnapishtim
In the Underworld
The Tale of Buluqiya between Ibn al-æArabi and Gilgamesh	p. 129
The Tale of Hasib Karim al-Din
The Quest for the Plant of Life
The Mystical Dimension
Conclusion	p. 137
Notes	p. 143
Bibliography	p. 183
Index	p. 191
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