Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition PDF
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Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science Texts and Studies Editedby HansDaiber AnnaAkasoy EmilieSavage-Smith VOLUME89 Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/ipts Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition Introduction to Reading Avicenna’s Philosophical Works Second,RevisedandEnlargedEdition, Includingan InventoryofAvicenna’sAuthenticWorks By DimitriGutas LEIDEN•BOSTON 2014 Coverillustration:LeidenUniversityLibraryOr.4,f.1a.TitlepageofAvicenna’sKitābaš-Šifāʾ(The Cure) LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Gutas,Dimitri. AvicennaandtheAristoteliantradition:introductiontoreadingAvicenna'sphilosophicalworks /byDimitriGutas.–Second,revised,andenlargededition,includinganinventoryofAvicenna's authenticworks. pagescm.–(Islamicphilosophy,theology,andscience,ISSN0169-8729;VOLUME89) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-90-04-25580-7(hardback:alk.paper)–ISBN978-90-04-26207-2(e-book:alk.paper) 1.Avicenna,980-1037.2.Aristotle–Influence.I.Title. B751.Z7G872014 181'.5–dc23 2013040355 Thispublicationhasbeentypesetinthemultilingual“Brill”typeface.Withover5,100characters coveringLatin,IPA,Greek,andCyrillic,thistypefaceisespeciallysuitableforuseinthehumanities. Formoreinformation,pleaseseewww.brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN0169-8729 ISBN978-90-04-25580-7(hardback) ISBN978-90-04-26207-2(e-book) Copyright2014byKoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden,TheNetherlands. KoninklijkeBrillNVincorporatestheimprintsBrill,BrillNijhoff,GlobalOrientalandHotei Publishing. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,translated,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical, photocopying,recordingorotherwise,withoutpriorwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher. AuthorizationtophotocopyitemsforinternalorpersonaluseisgrantedbyKoninklijkeBrillNV providedthattheappropriatefeesarepaiddirectlytoTheCopyrightClearanceCenter, 222RosewoodDrive,Suite910,Danvers,MA01923,USA. Feesaresubjecttochange. Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper. TotheMemoryof DAVIDC.REISMAN مِﺮﳱﻓ ﺮْﻤَّ ﻌَ ُﯾ ﺊﻄﲣُ ﻦﻣو ﻪﺘْ ﻤُﺗ*ﺐْ ﺼُﺗ ﻦﻣَ ءَ اﻮﺸْ ﻋَ ﻂَ ﺒْﺧَ ﺎﻨﳌا ﺖُ ﯾأر IhaveseentheFatestramplelikeapurblindcamel;thosetheystrike theyslay,thosetheymissarelefttoliveonintodotage. Zuhayribn-Abī-Sulmā,Muʿallaqa TranslationbyA.J.Arberry,TheSevenOdes,London:GeorgeAllen& Unwin,1957,118. Τίʼναι,μωρέ,στὸνκόσμοτὰπαιδιὰπαρὰμπουκιὲςτοῦΧάρου; Ἀνάθεματὸἀντρόυνοποὺγεννάεικαὶτὸφονιὰταγίζει! WhatinthisworldarechildrenbutmorselsforgrimDeath? CursedbethatcouplethatgivesbirthandfeedstheSlayer! ΝίκοςΚαζαντζάκης,ὈδύσσειαΧ,1126–1127 NikosKazantzakis,TheOdyssey.AModernSequel.XXII,1126–1127. TranslationintoEnglishVerse…byKimonFriar,NewYork:Simonand Schuster,1958,705. Nell’impostazione dei problemi storico-critici, non bisogna concepire la discus- sionescientificacomeunprocessogiudiziario,incuic’èunimputatoec’èunprocu- ratoreche,perobbligod’ufficio,devedimostrarechel’imputatoècolpevoleedegno diesseretoltodallacircolazione.Nelladiscussionescientifica,poichésisuppone chel’interessesialaricercadellaveritàeilprogressodellascienza,sidimostrapiú “avanzato”chisiponedalpuntodivistachel’avversariopuòesprimereun’esigenza chedeveessereincorporata,siapurecomeunmomentosubordinato,nellapro- priacostruzione.Comprendereevalutarerealisticamentelaposizioneeleragioni dell’avversario(etalvoltaèavversariotuttoilpensieropassato)significaappunto essersiliberatodallaprigionedelleideologie(nelsensodeteriore,diciecofanatismo ideologico),cioèporsidaunpuntodivista“critico”,l’unicofecondonellaricercasci- entifica. Antonio Gramsci, IlmaterialismostoricoelafilosofiadiBenedettoCroce, Torino: Einaudi,1949,21. Intheformulationofhistorico-criticalproblemsitiswrongtoconceiveofscientific discussionasaprocessatlawinwhichthereisanaccusedandapublicprosecutor whose professional duty it is to demonstrate that the accused is guilty and has tobeputoutofcirculation.Inscientificdiscussion,sinceitisassumedthatthe purposeofdiscussionisthepursuitoftruthandtheprogressofscience,theperson who shows himself most “advanced” is the one who takes up the point of view thathisadversarymaywellbeexpressinganeedwhichshouldbeincorporated, if only as a subordinate aspect, in his own construction. To understand and to evaluate realistically one’s adversary’s position and his reasons (and sometimes one’sadversaryisthewholeofpastthought)meanspreciselytobeliberatedfrom the prison of ideologies in the bad sense of the word—that of blind ideological fanaticism.Itmeanstakingupapointofviewthatis“critical”,whichforthepurpose ofscientificresearchistheonlyfertileone. SelectionsfromthePrisonNotebooksofAntonioGramsci,editedandtranslatedby QuintinHoareandGeoffreyNowellSmith,NewYork:InternationalPublishers,1971, 343–344. CONTENTS PrefacetotheSecondEdition(2014).................................... xi Acknowledgments...................................................... xv IntroductiontotheFirstEdition(1988)............................... xix LayoutoftheWork ................................................... xxvii BibliographicalNote.............................................. xxvii TranslationandAnnotation...................................... xxvii TechnicalTerms ..................................................xxviii Transliteration....................................................xxviii SerialNumbersofAvicenna’sWorks ............................. xxix ReferencestoAvicenna’sWorksandOtherPrimarySources ..... xxix SignsandMarginalNumbers..................................... xxx AbbreviationsandReferenceWorks ............................. xxx PARTONE DOCUMENTSONAVICENNAAND THEARISTOTELIANTRADITION 1. PersonalTextsbyAvicennaandHisDisciplesonHisRelationto theAristotelianTradition .......................................... 3 Introduction........................................................ 3 Text1. FromCompendiumontheSoul.......................... 4 Text2. FromPhilosophyforʿAlāʾ-ad-Dawla ..................... 8 Text3. TheAutobiography ..................................... 10 Text4. IntroductiontoTheProvenanceandDestination........ 20 Text5. Epilogueofthe“Lesser”Destination..................... 22 Text6. FromTheCure:PrologueandEpilogueofSophistics.... 24 Text7. IntroductiontoTheCure,byJūzjānī .................... 29 Text8. IntroductiontoTheEasterners.......................... 34 Text9. FromTheCure:thePrologue............................ 41 Text10. FromPointersandReminders:ProloguesandEpilogue 47 Text11. FromaLettertoanAnonymousDisciple(Bahmanyār) 49 Text12. LettertoKiyā............................................ 53 viii contents Text13. MemoirsofaDisciple(Ibn-Zayla?)WritingfromRayy.. 59 Text14. OntheRationalSoul..................................... 67 2. AnInventoryandRelativeChronologyofAvicenna’sMajor PhilosophicalWorks.TheirOrganizationandContentsin RelationtotheAristotelianTradition .............................. 77 Introduction........................................................ 77 Work1. CompendiumontheSoul ................................ 80 Work2. TheCompilation,orPhilosophyforʿArūḍī................ 86 Work3. TheAvailableandtheValidandPietyandSin............ 94 Work4. TheProvenanceandDestination......................... 101 Work5. The“Lesser”Destination ................................ 102 Work6. TheCure................................................. 103 a. OccasionofCompositionandContents.............. 103 b. DatesofComposition ................................ 106 c. TheDateandPurposeofCompositionofJūzjānī’s IntroductionandAvicenna’sPrologue ............... 109 Work7. TheSalvation............................................ 115 Work8. PhilosophyforʿAlāʾ-ad-Dawla............................ 118 Work9. TheEasterners........................................... 119 a. Testimonia ........................................... 120 b. TitleoftheWork ..................................... 128 c. DatesofCompositionandLoss ...................... 130 d. ContentsandTransmission .......................... 137 e. ThePlaceofEasternPhilosophyandtheEasterners intheDevelopmentofAvicenna’sPhilosophy ....... 138 Work10. FairJudgmentandMarginalGlossesonDeanima....... 144 a. Testimonia ........................................... 144 b. DatesofCompositionandLoss ...................... 147 c. ContentsandSurvivaloftheWork................... 150 Work11. PointersandReminders ................................. 155 Work12. Discussions.............................................. 159 Work13. AppendicesandNotes ................................... 160 ChronologyofAvicenna’sMajorPhilosophicalWorks.............. 165 contents ix PARTTWO AVICENNA’SRECEPTIONOFTHEARISTOTELIANTRADITION 3. Avicenna’sIntellectualUpbringing:TheAutobiographyandIts Interpretation ...................................................... 169 1. Avicenna’sStudies.TheCurriculum............................ 169 2. Avicenna’sStudies.MethodsofLearning:GuessingCorrectly (theMiddleTerm)(ḥads) ...................................... 179 3. Avicenna’sStudies.MethodsofLearning:Study ............... 201 A. Logic....................................................... 201 B. Prayer...................................................... 206 C. Dreams..................................................... 208 D. WineDrinking ............................................. 209 E. IndependentVerification .................................. 213 i. taḥqīq/taḥaqquq,taḥṣīl,istinbāṭ ....................... 214 ii. taqlīd,taʿaṣṣub......................................... 217 iii. inṣāf ................................................... 219 4. ThePurposeandDateoftheAutobiography................... 220 4. Avicenna’sConceptionoftheHistoryofPhilosophy ............... 227 5. Avicenna’sConceptionofthePraxisofPhilosophy................. 249 1. ObjectiveMethod:FundamentalPrinciplesandCorollaries... 250 2. SocialContextuality:CustomaryPractice...................... 252 3. SocialContextuality:WithholdingKnowledge................. 256 PARTTHREE AVICENNA’SINTEGRATIONOFTHEARISTOTELIANTRADITION 6. TheResolutionoftheMajorPointsofConflictwiththe AristotelianTradition .............................................. 269 1. TheContentsofMetaphysics .................................. 270 2. The“Fruit”ofPhysics:MetaphysicsoftheRationalSoul ....... 288 3. PhysicsorMetaphysics:PrimeMoverversusNecessary Existent ........................................................ 296 4. LogicorMetaphysics:TheProblemoftheCategories.......... 300 5. LogicasOrganon:NamingThingsandNamingLogic.......... 303
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