Tradition
3 readings
Falsafa
Tradition · 3 readings
Follow selected philosophical inquiries written in Arabic through translation, commentary and criticism. The arguments and religious commitments of each thinker remain distinct.
All readings
3 readings · Title A–Z
Guided course · Module 6 · Lesson 29
Translation as philosophical creation
Hunayn ibn Ishaq revises a translation, and al-Kindi defends the pursuit of philosophy. The lesson shows how translation transforms an inheritance and asks what evidence separates real reception from a resemblance later readers notice.
Guided course · Module 6 · Lesson 31
What can reason establish about causation?
Al-Ghazali challenges causal necessity, and Averroes defends the natural powers of things. What does observation establish, and how does each account explain regularity, conditions and possible exceptions?
Guided course · Module 6 · Lesson 30
What would a necessary being be?
Avicenna separates what a thing is from whether it exists, and argues that explaining contingent things may require a being necessary in itself. How far does that conclusion reach?