The Formation of Post-Classical Philosophy in Islam

by Griffel, Frank

• ISBN13: 9780197768129
• ISBN10: 0197768121
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2024-12-24
• 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 the Louis M. Rabinowitz Professor of Religious Studies at Yale University. He is a Carnegie Scholar and a recipient of a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award of Germany's Humboldt Foundation, among others. He is author of Al-Ghazali's Philosophical Theology.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Conventions



Part One: Post-Classical Philosophy In Its Islamic Context

First Chapter: Khorasan, the Birthplace of Post-Classical Philosophy, A Land 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: Khwarazmshahs and Ghurids

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


Second Chapter: The Death of falsafa 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 "Philosophy"


Third Chapter: Philosophy and the Power of the Religious Law

The Legal Background of al-Ghazali's fatwa on the Last Page of His Tahafut al-falasifa

Persecution of Philosophers in the Sixth/Twelfth Century

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

Shihab al-Din Yahya al-Suhrawardi's Execution c. 587/1192 in Aleppo

Was al-Ghazali's fatwa Ever Applied?



Part Two: Philosophers and Philosophies: 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 (both d. c. 590/1194)

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 Hikma 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 Criticizing Avicenna

Knowledge as a "Relational State"

Knowledge as "Presence": The Context in al-Suhrawardi

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

Knowledge as Relation: Sharaf al-Din al-Mas'udi

Knowledge as Relation: Origins in al-Ghazali and Avicenna

Do al-Razi's "Philosophical Books" Teach Philosophical Ash'arism?


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

The Content of God's Knowledge Understood as Positive Divine Attributes

What Books of hikma 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 Foisted on al-Ghazali

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

Al-Mas 'udi's Reconciliation of falsafa and kalam on the Issue of the World's Eternity

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 Background of Abu l-Barakat's "Careful Consideration" (i'tibar)

The Middle Way Between Avicennism and Ghazalianism: 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



Epilogue: Hikma and kalam in Fakhr al-Din's Latest Works



Conclusions

The Formation of Post-Classical Philosophy in the Islamic East during the Sixth/Twelfth Century

What Was Philosophy in Islam's Post-Classical Period?



Appendices



Bibliography



Index of Manuscripts



General Index