Of all the philosophers in the West, none, perhaps, is better known by name and less familiar in actual content of his ideas than the medieval Muslim philosoper, physician, princely minister and naturalist Abu Ali Ibn Sina, known since the days of the scholastics as Avicenna. In this lucid and witty book L.E. Goodman, himself a philosopher, and long known for his studies of Arabic thought, presents a factual, pithy and engaging account of Avicenna's philosophy. Setting the thinker in the context of his often turbulent times and tracing the roots and influences of Avicenna's ideas, Goodman offers a factual and credible philosophical portrait of one of the world's greatest metaphysicians. This books details Avicenna's account of being as a synthesis between the seemingly irreconcilable extremes of Aristotelian eternalism and the creationism of monotheistic scripture. It examines Avicenna's distinctive theory of knowledge, his ideas about immortality and individuality, including the famous Floating Man argument, his contributions to logic, and his probing thoughts on rhetoric and poetics. Taking advantage of the latest scholarship, Goodman's book is more than a philosophic appreciation. In every section it considers the abiding value of Avicenna's contributions, assaying his thought against the responses of his contemporaries and successors but also against our current philosophical undertanding
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Editorial Reviews
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Goodman's splendid new book should be welcomed by all historians of philosophy as the best detailed introduction to the thought of the eminent Islamic philosopher Avicenna . . . . Especially fine is Goodman's lucid account of Avicenna's synthesis of the metaphysics of necessity and of contingency.
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About the Author
L. E. Goodman is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An astonishingly good book,
By Geoff Puterbaugh (Chiang Mai, T. Suthep, A. Muang Thailand) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Avicenna (Kindle Edition)
I am reviewing this book as a rank amateur in philosophy. I got curious about Avicenna when he was prominently mentioned in Varghese's The Wonder of the World: A Journey from Modern Science to the Mind of God. According to Varghese, Avicenna was one of the extremely important philosophers who helped to create "The Matrix" --- which is what enabled modern science to take off. Varghese's list includes Avicenna, Maimonides, Aquinas, and Madhvacharya (an Indian philosopher I had never heard of!)So I ordered this book with some trepidation, afraid of some totally dry treatise which would bore me to tears, and I got the very opposite: an extremely well-written summary of Avicenna which answers any and all questions I had about this philosopher, universally considered the greatest thinker produced by Islam. I particularly enjoyed the details of the local Persian history in Khorasan, which seems to resemble the American Wild West in a lot of ways. But then, I've lived in Iran and have a natural interest in the place. (Avicenna, by the way, was a Persian who wrote in Arabic.) The summaries of Avicenna's books are clear --- magnificently clear, if I may say so. A good companion to this book might be The Closing of the Muslim Mind. Highest recommendation for this book!
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Shouldered between India and Arabia and pinched between the Caspian and the Persian Gulf, the great land mass of Iran that lies between the river systems of the Tigris and Euphrates to the west and the Indus and Helmand to the east, widens north of the Arabian sea, into the mountainous highlands of Khorasan, stretching north and eastward as it rounds the Caspian at Jurjan, to the cities of Nishapur, Meshed, Tus, Merw, Herat and Balkh, the Pamir mountains and the Hindu Kush. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
predicative terms, human rational soul, active intellect, truth functional connectives, first edn Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ibn Sind, Ibn Siną, New York, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Sini, Danesh Nameh, Ibn Tufayl, Van Den Bergh, Alexander of Aphrodisias, Cambridge University Press, Ibn Sinä, Posterior Analytics, Oxford University Press, Ibn Sina, Clarendon Press, Ibn Simi, New Haven, Nicomachaean Ethics, Book of Letters, Diogenes Laertius, Form of the Good, God Himself, Ibn Khaldńn, Ibn Khaldśn, Les Belles Lettres New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Shouldered between India and Arabia and pinched between the Caspian and the Persian Gulf, the great land mass of Iran that lies between the river systems of the Tigris and Euphrates to the west and the Indus and Helmand to the east, widens north of the Arabian sea, into the mountainous highlands of Khorasan, stretching north and eastward as it rounds the Caspian at Jurjan, to the cities of Nishapur, Meshed, Tus, Merw, Herat and Balkh, the Pamir mountains and the Hindu Kush. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
predicative terms, human rational soul, active intellect, truth functional connectives, first edn Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ibn Sind, Ibn Siną, New York, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Sini, Danesh Nameh, Ibn Tufayl, Van Den Bergh, Alexander of Aphrodisias, Cambridge University Press, Ibn Sinä, Posterior Analytics, Oxford University Press, Ibn Sina, Clarendon Press, Ibn Simi, New Haven, Nicomachaean Ethics, Book of Letters, Diogenes Laertius, Form of the Good, God Himself, Ibn Khaldńn, Ibn Khaldśn, Les Belles Lettres New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 64
books:
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- Posterior Analytics (Clarendon Aristotle) by Aristotle on 9 pages
- Prior Analytics by Aristotle on 4 pages
- Islamic Theology and Philosophy: Studies in Honor of George F. Hourani by Michael E. Marmura on page 112, page 119, and page 121
- Rhetoric and Poetics (Modern Library, 246.2) by Aristotle on page 18, page 217, and page 233
- Avicenna on Theology by A. J. Arberry on page 45, page 174, and page 182
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