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1 Classical Islamic Philosophy University of Notre Dame Spring 2017 Classical Islamic Philosophy (3 credit hours, PHIL 43130-01) Prof. Therese Cory Time: Tues / Thurs 9:30am–10:45pm Place: O’Shaughnessy Hall 305 Email: [email protected] (best method for getting a quick response) Phone (office): 574-631-6805 Office: Malloy Hall 330 Office hours: Tues / Thurs 8:15am-9:15am; or I am available for afternoon appointments T/Th Course Description: What is God, and how do we know Him? How are we able to acquire abstract concepts such as “beauty” or “dogness,” and do these concepts give us access to reality? What is animal knowledge like? Where does fire get the causal power to burn cotton? Is the universe eternal? Could a child growing up alone on a desert island develop rationality? Should a politician lie for the sake of the common good? These are just some of the questions to which the great philosophers of the Islamic tradition developed novel and interesting answers. In this course, using primary texts and recent scholarly literature, we will study thinkers from Persia, Andalusia, and Iraq during the 9th to the 12th centuries, including al-Kindi, Ibn Tufayl, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), al-Ghazali, and Ibn Rushd (Averroes). Many of the philosophical theories that we will study were studied closely by Thomas Aquinas, whose own thought was strongly influenced by them. So students with an interest in Latin medieval philosophy in general will benefit from studying these important thinkers. (Please note: This is not a course on the religious doctrines of Islamic or on interpretations of the Qur’an, but on philosophical ideas developed by key thinkers in an Islamic milieu.) Required Texts: Classical Arabic Philosophy: An Anthology of Sources, ed. Jon McGinnis and David C. Reisman (Hackett, 2007). ISBN: 0872208710 Philosophy in the Islamic World: A Very Short Introduction, by Peter Adamson (Oxford, 2015). ISBN: 0199683670 Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy, ed. Richard Taylor and Peter Adamson (Cambridge, 2006). Available online through the Hesburgh Library. Search for the title, click the “online access” tab, sign in with your ND login. The Routledge Companion to Islamic Philosophy, ed. Richard C. Taylor and Luis Xavier López- Farjeat. New York: Routledge, 2016. Selections available on SAKAI. Assignments: • Participation (including discussion questions): 15% • Short midterm paper (3-5pg): 20% • Two 10-15-minute “sic / non” or “na‘am / lā” debates: 15% • Final research paper (9-11pg): 50% 1 Policies *** Active, engaged, and respectful discussion is crucial to the success of a philosophical seminar. The expectation is that you arrive in class having done the reading and prepared your explication essay, and that you are ready to take initiative in discussion. *** Attendance: Attendance is required and will be taken at the beginning of every class. You are permitted up to two unexcused absences. Additional absences will result in a 3% deduction from your participation grade. I do not excuse absences. Hence, absences may only be considered excused if they are officially excused per University procedure (i.e., in cases of student illness, death in the immediate family, and duties performed for the university). To obtain an officially excused absence, contact the Office of Undergraduate Studies. Electronics: No laptops or other electronic devices may be used in seminar. Assignments • Instructions for all assignments have already been posted on Sakai. • Papers and other assignments submitted up to 24 hours after the due date will be marked down 2 percentage points. Thereafter, 2 percentage points will be subtracted from the grade for every additional late day. Assignments more than 1 week late will not be accepted. *Academic honesty* You are being graded on the assumption that all the work you hand in is your work. Cheating on tests, submitting work that is not your own (whether wholly or in part), using material, including ideas, from other sources without proper acknowledgment of the source—all of these are very serious academic offenses which undermine the integrity of your university degree, not to mention your own moral integrity. All instances of academic dishonesty will be subject to penalty, and in serious cases could result in a failing grade for the entire course or expulsion from the university. Your presence in this seminar constitutes acknowledgment that you have read and understood (1) the University of Notre Dame Honor Code http://honorcode.nd.edu/the-honor-code/, (2) the “Did I Plagiarize?” Infographic posted on Sakai (under assignment instructions), (3) Professor Cory’s Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism (also posted on Sakai). If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism, please talk to me before you hand in your assignments. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 TENTATIVE SEMINAR SCHEDULE (subject to alteration at the professor’s discretion; please see SAKAI for updates) MR = McGinnis and Reisman reader. CCAP = Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy. RCIP = Routledge Companion to Islamic Philosophy Day Seminar Topic Readings and Assignments 1. Tues, 1/17 The origins of Islamic --Introduction to MR (pp. xvii-xxxi) philosophy. Kalām and --Cristina D’Ancona, “Greek Into Arabic,” CCAP ch. falsafa. The translation 1 movement. Philosophy in an Islamic Milieu: Early Interactions in Baghdad and Iran 2. Thurs, 1/19 Conciliating Attitudes. --al-Kindī, “The One True and Complete Agent,” MR Neoplatonism and the al-Kindī pp. 22-23; Circle in 9th-century Baghdad. --Richard C. Taylor, “Primary and Secondary God construed as Proclean Causality,” RCIP, pp 225-235 [SAKAI] “First Cause” 3. Tues, 1/24 al-Kindī (801-866), God and --al-Kindī, “On Divine Unity and the Finitude,” MR the creation of a finite world pp. 18-22. --Peter Adamson, “Al-Kindī,” CCAP, ch. 2 (you can skip the Natural Science section, pp. 42-46) 4. Thurs, 1/26 al-Kindī’s vision of the --al-Kindī, “On the Means of Dispelling Sorrows,” philosophical life MR pp. 23-35 5. Tues, 1/31 Philosopher as Heretic. --Reports on ar-Razi’s views concerning the Five Abū Bakr ar-Razi (864-925 or Eternals, MR pp44-49 932), the Five Eternals 6. Thurs, 2/2 Cont. Cont. 7. Tues, 2/7 ar-Razi, philosophical --ar-Razi, The Philosopher’s Way of Life, MR 36-44 authority, wisdom, and the --ar-Razi, Selections from Doubts Against Galen, good life MR 49-53 al-Fārābī (c. 870?-950) 8. Thurs, 2/9 Where does intellect fit into the al-Fārābī, The Principles of Existing Things, MR pp. cosmos? 81-88 (to n. 20) 9. Tues, 2/14 “The First” al-Fārābī, The Principles of Existing Things, MR pp. 88-99 (to n. 51) Midterm paper due 3 10. Thurs, 2/16 al-Fārābī’s political philosophy -- al-Fārābī, “The Political Regime,”[SAKAI], PP. 32- 42 --R. Ahmed, “Jurisprudence and Political Philosophy in Medieval Islam,” RCIP [SAKAI] 11. Tues, 2/21 Weed in the city --al-Farabi, “The Political Regime,” [SAKAI], pp. 42- 52 --P. Vallat, “Principles of the Philosophy of State,” RCIP [SAKAI] Thurs, 2/23 NO SEMINAR MEETING Deborah Black, Medieval Institute Lecture 5pm TODAY Ibn Sīnā (980-1037) 12. Tues, 2/28 Ibn Sina (Avicenna)’s modal Ibn Sīnā, The Salvation, “Metaphysics,” II.1-5, MR, metaphysics pp211-215 R.E. Houser, “Essence and Existence in Ibn Sīnā, RCIP 17 [SAKAI] Or: an even shorter and more introductory summary is found in McGinnis, Avicenna (Oxford, 2009), pp. 159-163; available through the library catalog 13. Thurs, 3/2 Argument for the Necessarily Ibn Sīnā, The Salvation, “Metaphysics,” II.12-13 & Existing Through Itself 18-19, MR, pp215-219 Jon McGinnis, Avicenna (Oxford, 2009), pp. 149- 177 (or at least to p. 168); online access through the library catalog 14. Tues, 3/7 The soul, the I, and the Ibn Sīnā, The Cure, “The Soul” 1.1, MR, pp175-179, mysterious flying man and V.7, MR, pp205-209 Jari Kaukua, Self-Awareness in Islamic Philosophy: Avicenna and Beyond (Cambridge, 2015), pp. 30- 61; online access through the library catalog 15. Thurs, 3/9 Philosophical psychology 1: Ibn Sīnā, The Cure, “The Soul” 1.5, nn. 1-11, MR, Animal behavior and the pp179-182 doctrine of inner senses Deborah Black, “Imagination and Estimation,” pp. 59-62 for an overview of Avicenna [SAKAI] For more detail: Deborah Black, “Estimation (Wahm) in Avicenna” [SAKAI] 3/14 & 3/14 NO CLASSES, SEMESTER BREAK 16. Tues, 3/21 4 17. Thurs, 3/23 Philosophical psychology 2: Ibn Sīnā, The Cure, “The Soul” 1.5, nn. 12-15, MR, The intellect pp182-185, and V.3, MR, pp192-195 Final Paper Topic Due to Me By Email 18. Tues, 3/28 Guest Speaker: Prof. Adnan Huston Smith, “Perennial Philosophy, Primordial Aslan, on the distinction Tradition” between intellect and reason Huston Smith, “Is There a Perennial Philosophy?” in the “perennial philosophy” Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “Intellect and Intuition: Their movement in contemporary Relationship From the Islamic Perspective.” [all on Islamic philosophy SAKAI] Philosophical psychology 2: Ibn Sīnā, The Cure, “The Soul” 1.5, nn. 12-15, MR, The intellect pp182-185, and V.3, MR, pp192-195 5 Prophecy in Ibn Sīnā Ibn Sīnā, On the proof of prophecies and the interpretation of the prophets’ symbols and metaphors [SAKAI] Frank Griffel, “Philosophy and Prophecy,” RCIP 31 [SAKAI] Optional: “The Sacred Intellect”, MR, pp204-205 A “Theologian” Responds: al-Ghazali (1058-1111) 19. Thurs, 3/30 Causation and the eternity of --Ibn Sīnā, The Cure, “Metaphysics,” 6.1, chs. 1-2 the world --al-Ghazālī, The Incoherence of the Philosophers, “The First Discussion,” On Refuting Their Claim to the World’s Eternity, only nos. 11-21 [MR, pp243- 45. We certainly won’t get to this today, but it might be helpful to read together with Ibn Sīnā’s text as a point of comparison] --“Metaphysics II” ch.
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