The Formation of Post-Classical Philosophy in Islam

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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 (kalām). Griffel argues that even this new view misses a key point. In addition to the integration of Greek ideas into kalām, 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 ".hikma"―in which they left aside theological concerns. They wrote in both genres, kalām and .hikma, 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. cover The Formation of Post-Classical Philosophy in Islam Copyright Dedication Contents Introduction Conventions I. 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: Khwārazmshāhs and Ghūrids 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 (taqlīd) Falsafa as Part of the History of the World’s Religions Three Different Concepts of Philosophy in Islam Ḥikma as the New Technical Term for “Philosophy” Third Chapter: Philosophy and the Power of the Religious Law The Legal Background of al-​Ghazālī’s fatwā on the Last Page of His Tahāfut al-​falāsifa Persecution of Philosophers in the Sixth/​Twelfth Century ʿAyn al-​Quḍāt’s Execution in 525/​1131 in Hamadan Shihāb al-​Dīn Yaḥyā al-​Suhrawardī’s Execution c. 587/​1192 in Aleppo Was al-​Ghazālī’s fatwā Ever Applied? II. 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: Abū l-​Barakāt al-​Baghdādī (d. c. 560/​1165) Two Ghazalians of Transoxania: al-​Masʿūdī and Ibn Ghaylān al-​Balkhī (both d. c. 590/1194) Majd al-​Dīn al-​Jīlī: Teacher of Two Influential Philosophers Trained in Maragha Al-​Suhrawardī (d. c. 587/​1192), the Founder of the “School of Illumination” Fakhr al-​Dīn al-​Rāzī (d. 606/​1210): Post-​Classical Philosophy Fully Developed III. The Formation of ḥikma as a New Philosophical Genre First Chapter: Books and Their Teachings Al-​Rāzī’s “Philosophical Books” (kutub ḥikmiyya) What Books of ḥikma Do: Reporting Avicenna First Perspective: Teachings on Epistemology What Books in ḥikma Also Do: Doubting and Criticizing Avicenna Knowledge as a “Relational State” Knowledge as “Presence”: The Context in al-​Suhrawardī Knowledge as Relation: Abū l-​Barakāt al-​Baghdādī’s Key Contribution Knowledge as Relation: Sharaf al-​Dīn al-​Masʿūdī Knowledge as Relation: Origins in al-​Ghazālī and Avicenna Do al-​Rāzī’s “Philosophical Books” Teach Philosophical Ashʿarism? 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 ḥikma Mostly Do: Endorsing and Correcting Avicennan Philosophy Second Chapter: Books and Their Genre The Eclectic Career of al-​Ghazālī’s Doctrines of the Philosophers (Maqāṣid al-​falāsifa) Al-​Ghazālī as Clandestine faylasūf: Evaluating His Maḍnūn Corpus The Maḍnūn Corpus and Forgery: Two Pseudo-​Epigraphies Foisted on al-​Ghazālī Between Neutral Report and Committed Investment: al-​Masʿūdī’s Commentary on Avicenna’s Glistering Homily (al-​Khuṭba al-​gharrāʾ) Al-​Masʿūdī’s Reconciliation of falsafa and kalām 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” (iʿtibār) in Abū l-​Barakāt al-​Baghdādī The Background of Abū l-​Barakāt’s “Careful Consideration” (iʿtibār) The Middle Way between Avicennism and Ghazalianism: How Fakhr al-​Dīn al-​Rāzī Describes His Philosophy Fakhr al-​Dīn al-​Rāzī’s Method of “Probing and Dividing” (sabr wa-​taqsīm) A Case Study of the New Method: Al-​Rāzī on God’s Knowledge of Particulars The Method in Books of ḥikma: Implementing the Principle of Sufficient Reason The Method in Books of kalām: Limiting the Principle of Sufficient Reason Epilogue: Ḥikma and kalām in Fakhr al-​Dīn’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? Appendix 1: List of Avicenna’s Students and Scholars Active in the Sixth/​Twelfth Century Mentioned in Ibn Funduq al-​Bayhaqī’s (d. 565/​1169–​70) Tatimmat Ṣiwān al-​ḥikma (ed. M. Shāfiʿ, 1935) and in Muʿīn al-​Dīn al-​Naysābūrī’s (d. c. 590/​1194) Itmām Appendix 2: Relative Chronology of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s Works Based on Citation Relationships Bibliography Index of Manuscripts General Index