The Formation of Post-Classical Philosophy in Islam

by Griffel, Frank

• ISBN13: 9780190886325
• ISBN10: 0190886323
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2021-07-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Scholars have come to recognize the importance of classical Islamic philosophy both in its own right and in its preservation of and engagement with Greek philosophical ideas. At the same time, the period immediately following the so-called classical era has been considered a sort of dark age, in which Islamic thought entered a long decline. In this monumental new work, Frank Griffel seeks to overturn this conventional wisdom, arguing that what he calls the "post-classical" period has been unjustly maligned and neglected by previous generations of scholars.

The Formation of Post-Classical Philosophy in Islam is a comprehensive study of the far-reaching changes that led to a re-shaping of the philosophical discourse in Islam during the twelfth century. Earlier Western scholars thought that Islam's engagement with the tradition of Greek philosophy ended during that century. More recent analyses suggest that Islamic thinkers instead integrated Greek thought into the genre of rationalist Muslim theology (kalam). Griffel argues that even this new view misses a key point. In addition to the integration of Greek ideas into kalam, Muslim theologians picked up the discourse of classical philosophy in Islam (falsafa) and began to produce books in the tradition of Plato, Aristotle, and Avicenna—a new and oft-misunderstood genre they called "?ikma"—in which they left aside theological concerns. They wrote in both genres, kalam and ?ikma, and the same writers argued for opposing teachings on the nature of God, the world's creation, and the afterlife depending on the genre in which they were writing. Griffel shows how careful attention to genre demonstrates both the coherence and ambiguity of this new philosophical approach.

A work of extraordinary breadth and depth, The Formation of Post-Classical Philosophy in Islam offers a detailed, insightful history of philosophy in Iraq, Iran, and Central Asia during the twelfth century. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in the history of philosophy or the history of Islam.

Author Biography

Frank Griffel is a Professor of Islamic Studies and International and Area Studies at the Department of Religious Studies at Yale University. He is a Carnegie Scholar and a Whitney Fellow among others. He is author of Al-Ghazali's Philosophical Theology.

Table of Contents

Introduction


Part One: Post-Classical Philosophy In Its Islamic Context

First Chapter: Khorasan, the Birthplace of Post-Classical Philosophy: A Country in Decline?

The madrasa System

The Cities of Khorasan and Its Surrounding Provinces

The First Half of the Sixth/Twelfth Century: Seljuq Rule

The Second Half of the Sixth/Twelfth Century: Khwrazmshahs and Ghurids

Other Patrons: Qarakhanids, the Caliphal Court in Baghdad, and the Ayyubids in Syria


Second Chapter: The Death of as a Self-Description of Philosophy

Falsafa as a Quasi-Religious Movement Established by Uncritical Emulation (taqlid)

Falsafa As Part of the History of the World's Religions

Three Different Concepts of Philosophy in Islam

Hikma as the New Technical Term For


Third Chapter: Philosophy and the Power of the Religious Law

The Legal Background of al-Ghazali fatwa on the Last Page of His Tahfut al-falsifa

Persecution of Philosophers in the Sixth/Twelfth century

'Ayn al-Qudat's Execution 525/1131 in Hamadan

Shihbab al-Din Yahya al-Suhrawardi's Execution 587/1191 in Aleppo

Was al-Ghazali's fatwa? Ever Applied?



Part Two: Philosophers and Philosophies DS A Biographical History of Philosophy in the Sixth/Twelfth Century Islamic East

The Principal Sources for Sixth/Twelfth Century History of Philosophy in the Islamic East

The Early Sixth/Twelfth Century: Avicennism Undisturbed

Avicennism Contested: The Early Decades of the Sixth/Twelfth Century

The Outsider as Innovator: Abu l-Barakat al-Baghdadi (d. c. 560/1165)

Two Ghazalians of Transoxania: al-Mas' udi and Ibn Ghaylan al-Balkhi (d. c. 585/1190)

Majd al-Din al-Jili - Teacher of Two Influential Philosophers Trained In Maragha

Al-Suhrawardi (d. c. 587/1192), the Founder of the "School of Illumination"

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 606/1210) - Post-Classical Philosophy Fully Developed



Part Three: The Formation of ?ikma As a New Philosophical Genre

First Chapter: Books and Their Teachings

Al-Razi's "Philosophical Books" (kutub hikmiyya)

What Books of hikma Do: Reporting Avicenna


First Perspective: Teachings on Epistemology

What Books in hikma Also Do: Doubting and Critizising Avicenna

Knowledge as Relation: The Starting Point in al-Ghazali

Knowledge as Relation: Abu l-Barakat al-Baghdadi's Key Contribution

Knowledge as Relation: Developments in the Second Half
of the Sixth/Twelfth Century


Second Perspective: Teachings on Ontology and Theology

A New Place for the Study of Metaphysics Within Philosophy

Opposing Avicenna: God's Essence is Distinct From His Existence

What Books of ?ikma Mostly Do: Endorsing and Correcting
Avicennan Philosophy


Second Chapter: Books and Their Genre

The Eclectic Career of al-Ghazali's Doctrines of the Philosophers
(Maqasid al-falasifa)

Al-Ghazali as Clandestine faylasuf- Evaluating His Madnun Corpus

The Madnun-Corpus and Forgery-Two Pseudo-Epigraphies Attached to al-Ghazali

Between Neutral Report and Committed Investment: al-Mas 'udi's Commentary
on Avicenna's Glistering Homily (al-Khutba al-gharra)

Post-classical Philosophy and Tolerance For Ambiguity


Third Chapter: Books and Their Method

Dialectical Reasoning Replaces Demonstration: "Careful Consideration" (i'tibar)
in Abu l-Barakat al-Baghdadi

The Middle Way Between Avicennism and Ghazalism: How
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi Describes His Philosophy

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi's Method of "Probing and Dividing" (sabr wa-taqsim)

A Case Study of the New Method: Al-Razi on God's Knowledge of Particulars

The Method in Books of hikma: Implementing the Principle of Sufficient Reason

The Method in Books of kalam: Limiting the Principle of Sufficient Reason


Conclusions


Bibliography


Appendices