Avicenna (Arabic Thought and Culture) [Paperback]

Lenn Goodman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 1992 | ISBN-10: 0415074096 | ISBN-13: 978-0415074094 | Edition: 1

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 philosopher, physician, minister and naturalist Abu Ali Ibn Sina, known since the days of the scholastics as Avicenna. In this book the author, himself a philosopher, and long known for his studies of Arabic thought, presents a factual 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, this book offers a factual philosophical portrait. It 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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.
–Choice --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

L. E. Goodman is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (November 17, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415074096
• ISBN-13: 978-0415074094
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,990,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An astonishingly good book, August 18, 2010

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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!