Thématique centrale : Des spécialistes s’interrogent sur la philosophie produite « en climat isla... more Thématique centrale : Des spécialistes s’interrogent sur la philosophie produite « en climat islamique », son rapport à la philosophie occidentale ainsi que sur son actualité. Suivi de « Mémoires du Hajj... Le pèlerinage à La Mecque vu à travers les Arts de l’Islam, la production intellectuelle et matérielle de l’époque médiévale à l’époque contemporaine. » et de trois recensions.
Le débat sur la philosophie arabe classique et le rapport que la philosophie européenne moderne entretient à son égard a fait ces dernières années l’objet de « débats » voire de polémiques ayant parfois débordé du cadre stricte des spécialistes. Un des aspects de ces débats prend racine dans la désignation de cette philosophie. Elle semble être problématique. Faut-il continuer de l’appeler philosophie arabe en raison de la langue dans laquelle elle s’est souvent exprimée, y compris chez des penseurs qui ont pu être chrétiens ou juifs ; ou bien philosophie islamique, à savoir réflexion issue de l’hellénisme poursuivi dans un cadre religieux d’imprégnation musulmane ; ou encore philosophie de l’islam, à savoir effort d’élucidation des questions posées en propre par le message coranique et le hadith ? Il ne s’agit pas simplement d’une question terminologique. Il s’agit bien entendu de ce que le concept même de philosophie arabe ou de philosophie islamique peut recouvrir et des auteurs auxquels il peut renvoyer. Une approche encore plus large de cette thématique est d'interroger la pertinence même des expressions « philosophie arabe » et « philosophie islamique », au sens où nous pourrions considérer que la philosophie en climat islamique n’est que la « poursuite du dialogue exigeant dans lequel, continûment et, en droit, partout, la philosophie se crée ». Finalement, comment peut-on définir cette philosophie et quelle actualité philosophique peut-elle avoir ? C'est à toutes ces questions que les travaux présentés dans ce volume tentent d'apporter une réponse.
It is not difficult to observe, when reading Alfarabi, that he seems to diverge from Plato and Ar... more It is not difficult to observe, when reading Alfarabi, that he seems to diverge from Plato and Aristotle in his accounts of their thought. This is then often taken to indicate that Alfarabi didn’t fully understand these thinkers–either faultlessly in certain cases, because he didn’t have their original texts in front of him; or less faultlessly in others, because he simply didn’t grasp their thought; or both. My modest goal here is to consider, in light of these seeming divergences, Alfarabi’s introduction to his “Short Treatise on the Syllogism.” I hope to show that readers of Alfarabi should often be more surprised by those passages where Alfarabi fails to diverge from Plato and Aristotle, than those where he follows their words closely. We’ll see that the “Short Treatise” provides us with a hermeneutic key to more properly engage Alfarabi’s writings. It highlights one particular, and underappreciated, aspect of his complicated rhetoric: the difference between following an author’s deeds rather than his words. The main pay-off of this is that it offers a pedagogic reason–rather than the controversial political one–for taking Alfarabi seriously as a faithful interpreter of the Greeks even when–or rather, precisely when–he seems to misunderstand them.
It has generally been assumed that Alfarabi’s understanding of Aristotle was distorted by his rel... more It has generally been assumed that Alfarabi’s understanding of Aristotle was distorted by his reliance on Aristotle’s transmitters. Owing to this, scholars regularly resort to seeking Alfarabi’s sources rather than seriously asking whether he could have, nonetheless, accurately grasped Aristotle’s teaching. This essay attempts, primarily through an analysis of the Philosophy of Aristotle, to reassess such assumptions. In particular, it argues that the Philosophy of Aristotle reveals a deep understanding of two aspects of Aristotle’s teaching about philosophy: the way to philosophy and the way to reestablish it when it has become confused or extinct. Rather than merely dogmatically describing Aristotle’s account of the origin, progress and perplexities of philosophy, as many scholars erroneously expect, Alfarabi enacts this account. Starting from the generally accepted opinions of his own time, Alfarabi dramatically portrays man’s experience as man and thus compels his readers to beg...
Dr. Colmo’s, ‘Wisdom and Power in Averroës’ Commentary on Plato’s Republic’ attempts a pioneering... more Dr. Colmo’s, ‘Wisdom and Power in Averroës’ Commentary on Plato’s Republic’ attempts a pioneering interpretation of the medieval philosopher’s account of the relationship between theory and practice. As he says, in contrast to that of the Greeks, ‘Averroës’ understanding of theoretical knowledge allows for a new understanding of the relationship between wisdom and power’ (308). For Colmo’s Averroës, ‘theoretical knowledge does indeed involve will and choice’, while for his Plato and Aristotle it does not. What precisely Averroës’ new understanding is, however, remains largely mysterious in his essay. Colmo’s essay might thus be seen as a propaedeutic work calling for further investigation. We shall examine here five aspects of the argument Colmo uses to promote his new investigation. Ultimately, I believe Colmo’s misunderstanding of the ancients’ view of the relationship between theory and practice leads him to regard the views of the ancients and of Averroës as being divergent. In the absence of perfect wisdom, theory and practice work together in the ancients, though not from the perspective of either perfect wisdom or the ethical virtues. This is precisely the teaching of Averroës.
It is not difficult to observe, when reading Alfarabi, that he seems to diverge from Plato and Ar... more It is not difficult to observe, when reading Alfarabi, that he seems to diverge from Plato and Aristotle in his accounts of their thought. This is then often taken to indicate that Alfarabi didn’t fully understand these thinkers–either faultlessly in certain cases, because he didn’t have their original texts in front of him; or less faultlessly in others, because he simply didn’t grasp their thought; or both. My modest goal here is to consider, in light of these seeming divergences, Alfarabi’s introduction to his “Short Treatise on the Syllogism.” I hope to show that readers of Alfarabi should often be more surprised by those passages where Alfarabi fails to diverge from Plato and Aristotle, than those where he follows their words closely. We’ll see that the “Short Treatise” provides us with a hermeneutic key to more properly engage Alfarabi’s writings. It highlights one particular, and underappreciated, aspect of his complicated rhetoric: the difference between following an author’s deeds rather than his words. The main pay-off of this is that it offers a pedagogic reason–rather than the controversial political one–for taking Alfarabi seriously as a faithful interpreter of the Greeks even when–or rather, precisely when–he seems to misunderstand them.
This essay examines Alfarabi’s "Book of Religion" in order to understand his claim that “religion... more This essay examines Alfarabi’s "Book of Religion" in order to understand his claim that “religion is an imitation of philosophy.” In particular, we shall see how poetry, broadly understood, is the essential means for communicating to the city the opinions and actions that constitute the common custom or law in which it must firmly believe. But in addition to supporting firm belief in the law, Alfarabian religion also contains the seed of its own demise within the individual soul by guiding its citizens towards truth. It points its own more astute citizens to the underlying philosophical problems in its poetic images. My approach, however, will not merely articulate Alfarabi’s understanding of religion. I shall also show how Alfarabi deploys his understanding within the "Book of Religion" itself. We shall thus see how even a book of Alfarabi’s that “pronounces simply orthodox views” on the surface of the text as “his own doctrine,” thus inculcating firm belief for the pious, is far from orthodox upon careful examination.
Arab philosophy, as a form of pre-modern philosophy deeply concerned with the quarrel between rea... more Arab philosophy, as a form of pre-modern philosophy deeply concerned with the quarrel between reason and revelation, offers us an almost ideal place by which to understand philosophy as such and, thereby, the essential character of Arab philosophy. And having written extensively on philosophy as well as its self-understanding among the Arab tradition, Leo Strauss provides a fitting guide towards such an understanding. Section one of this essay thus begins by discussing Strauss’s reflections in Natural Right and History on the essential connection between the idea of nature and philosophy on the one hand, and between custom and religion on the other. Two distinctions show themselves to be at the core of philosophy: the intransigent rejection of authority (custom), and adherence to the hypothesis of nature’s blind necessity. Philosophy is thus best understood by means of its opposition to religion. With Strauss having prepared our way, we can then turn to the quarrel between reason and revelation in the Arab world. Al-Ghazālī and Averroës offer a highly developed debate regarding the particular issues Strauss raised as central to understanding Arab philosophy. Section two thus considers Al-Ghazālī’s discussion of the “so-called” natural sciences within the Incoherence of the Philosophers. In the name of revelation, Al-Ghazālī here argues for a return from the philosophic hypothesis of nature to its religious, prephilosophic equivalent: custom. Section three then considers Averroës’ response to Al-Ghazālī in his Incoherence of the Incoherence. In order to be a lover of wisdom, Averroës argues, one must assume the possibility of knowledge, which depends on the existence of natures and the rejection of authority. Both thinkers, through their quarrel, confirm that philosophy, and thus Arab philosophy, stands or falls on the hypothesis of the idea of nature and its corollary rejection of authority.
In this paper I attempt to make sense out of three claims that Aristotle makes at the beginning o... more In this paper I attempt to make sense out of three claims that Aristotle makes at the beginning of the "Politics": that “the city is prior in nature” to the individuals that compose the city; that “every city exists by nature;” and that “man is by nature a political animal.” I argue, regarding the first claim, that the city is prior insofar as it provides the necessary environment in which man can fulfill his natural capacities as the type of being that he is. Regarding the second claim, I argue that there is an important distinction within Aristotle’s natural philosophy that leaves room for a novel way of viewing the naturalness of the city: the city is natural insofar as it the activity of a natural substance. Lastly, regarding claim three, I argue that the sense in which the polis is prior to man implies as a corollary that man is a political animal.
This essay elucidates Aristotle's understanding of the phenomena of the outlandish (atopon), wond... more This essay elucidates Aristotle's understanding of the phenomena of the outlandish (atopon), wonder (thauma), and perplexity (aporia) in relation to philosophy. Taking its bearing from the genetic account of the science of wisdom presented in Metaphysics A, 1–2, it attempts to unearth the parallel structure of philosophy. Beginning by wondering at things that immediately appear contrary to our commonly held opinions, we gradually and teleologically ascend to the eternally perplexing question of beingness itself. Besides clarifying this ascent, of scholarly interest in itself, the essay also goes some way towards viewing Aristotle's " teleology " not as metaphysically dogmatic: the attainment of wisdom, but as fully open to the spirit of questioning: philosophy and its self-knowledge.
Thématique centrale : Des spécialistes s’interrogent sur la philosophie produite « en climat isla... more Thématique centrale : Des spécialistes s’interrogent sur la philosophie produite « en climat islamique », son rapport à la philosophie occidentale ainsi que sur son actualité. Suivi de « Mémoires du Hajj... Le pèlerinage à La Mecque vu à travers les Arts de l’Islam, la production intellectuelle et matérielle de l’époque médiévale à l’époque contemporaine. » et de trois recensions.
Le débat sur la philosophie arabe classique et le rapport que la philosophie européenne moderne entretient à son égard a fait ces dernières années l’objet de « débats » voire de polémiques ayant parfois débordé du cadre stricte des spécialistes. Un des aspects de ces débats prend racine dans la désignation de cette philosophie. Elle semble être problématique. Faut-il continuer de l’appeler philosophie arabe en raison de la langue dans laquelle elle s’est souvent exprimée, y compris chez des penseurs qui ont pu être chrétiens ou juifs ; ou bien philosophie islamique, à savoir réflexion issue de l’hellénisme poursuivi dans un cadre religieux d’imprégnation musulmane ; ou encore philosophie de l’islam, à savoir effort d’élucidation des questions posées en propre par le message coranique et le hadith ? Il ne s’agit pas simplement d’une question terminologique. Il s’agit bien entendu de ce que le concept même de philosophie arabe ou de philosophie islamique peut recouvrir et des auteurs auxquels il peut renvoyer. Une approche encore plus large de cette thématique est d'interroger la pertinence même des expressions « philosophie arabe » et « philosophie islamique », au sens où nous pourrions considérer que la philosophie en climat islamique n’est que la « poursuite du dialogue exigeant dans lequel, continûment et, en droit, partout, la philosophie se crée ». Finalement, comment peut-on définir cette philosophie et quelle actualité philosophique peut-elle avoir ? C'est à toutes ces questions que les travaux présentés dans ce volume tentent d'apporter une réponse.
It is not difficult to observe, when reading Alfarabi, that he seems to diverge from Plato and Ar... more It is not difficult to observe, when reading Alfarabi, that he seems to diverge from Plato and Aristotle in his accounts of their thought. This is then often taken to indicate that Alfarabi didn’t fully understand these thinkers–either faultlessly in certain cases, because he didn’t have their original texts in front of him; or less faultlessly in others, because he simply didn’t grasp their thought; or both. My modest goal here is to consider, in light of these seeming divergences, Alfarabi’s introduction to his “Short Treatise on the Syllogism.” I hope to show that readers of Alfarabi should often be more surprised by those passages where Alfarabi fails to diverge from Plato and Aristotle, than those where he follows their words closely. We’ll see that the “Short Treatise” provides us with a hermeneutic key to more properly engage Alfarabi’s writings. It highlights one particular, and underappreciated, aspect of his complicated rhetoric: the difference between following an author’s deeds rather than his words. The main pay-off of this is that it offers a pedagogic reason–rather than the controversial political one–for taking Alfarabi seriously as a faithful interpreter of the Greeks even when–or rather, precisely when–he seems to misunderstand them.
It has generally been assumed that Alfarabi’s understanding of Aristotle was distorted by his rel... more It has generally been assumed that Alfarabi’s understanding of Aristotle was distorted by his reliance on Aristotle’s transmitters. Owing to this, scholars regularly resort to seeking Alfarabi’s sources rather than seriously asking whether he could have, nonetheless, accurately grasped Aristotle’s teaching. This essay attempts, primarily through an analysis of the Philosophy of Aristotle, to reassess such assumptions. In particular, it argues that the Philosophy of Aristotle reveals a deep understanding of two aspects of Aristotle’s teaching about philosophy: the way to philosophy and the way to reestablish it when it has become confused or extinct. Rather than merely dogmatically describing Aristotle’s account of the origin, progress and perplexities of philosophy, as many scholars erroneously expect, Alfarabi enacts this account. Starting from the generally accepted opinions of his own time, Alfarabi dramatically portrays man’s experience as man and thus compels his readers to beg...
Dr. Colmo’s, ‘Wisdom and Power in Averroës’ Commentary on Plato’s Republic’ attempts a pioneering... more Dr. Colmo’s, ‘Wisdom and Power in Averroës’ Commentary on Plato’s Republic’ attempts a pioneering interpretation of the medieval philosopher’s account of the relationship between theory and practice. As he says, in contrast to that of the Greeks, ‘Averroës’ understanding of theoretical knowledge allows for a new understanding of the relationship between wisdom and power’ (308). For Colmo’s Averroës, ‘theoretical knowledge does indeed involve will and choice’, while for his Plato and Aristotle it does not. What precisely Averroës’ new understanding is, however, remains largely mysterious in his essay. Colmo’s essay might thus be seen as a propaedeutic work calling for further investigation. We shall examine here five aspects of the argument Colmo uses to promote his new investigation. Ultimately, I believe Colmo’s misunderstanding of the ancients’ view of the relationship between theory and practice leads him to regard the views of the ancients and of Averroës as being divergent. In the absence of perfect wisdom, theory and practice work together in the ancients, though not from the perspective of either perfect wisdom or the ethical virtues. This is precisely the teaching of Averroës.
It is not difficult to observe, when reading Alfarabi, that he seems to diverge from Plato and Ar... more It is not difficult to observe, when reading Alfarabi, that he seems to diverge from Plato and Aristotle in his accounts of their thought. This is then often taken to indicate that Alfarabi didn’t fully understand these thinkers–either faultlessly in certain cases, because he didn’t have their original texts in front of him; or less faultlessly in others, because he simply didn’t grasp their thought; or both. My modest goal here is to consider, in light of these seeming divergences, Alfarabi’s introduction to his “Short Treatise on the Syllogism.” I hope to show that readers of Alfarabi should often be more surprised by those passages where Alfarabi fails to diverge from Plato and Aristotle, than those where he follows their words closely. We’ll see that the “Short Treatise” provides us with a hermeneutic key to more properly engage Alfarabi’s writings. It highlights one particular, and underappreciated, aspect of his complicated rhetoric: the difference between following an author’s deeds rather than his words. The main pay-off of this is that it offers a pedagogic reason–rather than the controversial political one–for taking Alfarabi seriously as a faithful interpreter of the Greeks even when–or rather, precisely when–he seems to misunderstand them.
This essay examines Alfarabi’s "Book of Religion" in order to understand his claim that “religion... more This essay examines Alfarabi’s "Book of Religion" in order to understand his claim that “religion is an imitation of philosophy.” In particular, we shall see how poetry, broadly understood, is the essential means for communicating to the city the opinions and actions that constitute the common custom or law in which it must firmly believe. But in addition to supporting firm belief in the law, Alfarabian religion also contains the seed of its own demise within the individual soul by guiding its citizens towards truth. It points its own more astute citizens to the underlying philosophical problems in its poetic images. My approach, however, will not merely articulate Alfarabi’s understanding of religion. I shall also show how Alfarabi deploys his understanding within the "Book of Religion" itself. We shall thus see how even a book of Alfarabi’s that “pronounces simply orthodox views” on the surface of the text as “his own doctrine,” thus inculcating firm belief for the pious, is far from orthodox upon careful examination.
Arab philosophy, as a form of pre-modern philosophy deeply concerned with the quarrel between rea... more Arab philosophy, as a form of pre-modern philosophy deeply concerned with the quarrel between reason and revelation, offers us an almost ideal place by which to understand philosophy as such and, thereby, the essential character of Arab philosophy. And having written extensively on philosophy as well as its self-understanding among the Arab tradition, Leo Strauss provides a fitting guide towards such an understanding. Section one of this essay thus begins by discussing Strauss’s reflections in Natural Right and History on the essential connection between the idea of nature and philosophy on the one hand, and between custom and religion on the other. Two distinctions show themselves to be at the core of philosophy: the intransigent rejection of authority (custom), and adherence to the hypothesis of nature’s blind necessity. Philosophy is thus best understood by means of its opposition to religion. With Strauss having prepared our way, we can then turn to the quarrel between reason and revelation in the Arab world. Al-Ghazālī and Averroës offer a highly developed debate regarding the particular issues Strauss raised as central to understanding Arab philosophy. Section two thus considers Al-Ghazālī’s discussion of the “so-called” natural sciences within the Incoherence of the Philosophers. In the name of revelation, Al-Ghazālī here argues for a return from the philosophic hypothesis of nature to its religious, prephilosophic equivalent: custom. Section three then considers Averroës’ response to Al-Ghazālī in his Incoherence of the Incoherence. In order to be a lover of wisdom, Averroës argues, one must assume the possibility of knowledge, which depends on the existence of natures and the rejection of authority. Both thinkers, through their quarrel, confirm that philosophy, and thus Arab philosophy, stands or falls on the hypothesis of the idea of nature and its corollary rejection of authority.
In this paper I attempt to make sense out of three claims that Aristotle makes at the beginning o... more In this paper I attempt to make sense out of three claims that Aristotle makes at the beginning of the "Politics": that “the city is prior in nature” to the individuals that compose the city; that “every city exists by nature;” and that “man is by nature a political animal.” I argue, regarding the first claim, that the city is prior insofar as it provides the necessary environment in which man can fulfill his natural capacities as the type of being that he is. Regarding the second claim, I argue that there is an important distinction within Aristotle’s natural philosophy that leaves room for a novel way of viewing the naturalness of the city: the city is natural insofar as it the activity of a natural substance. Lastly, regarding claim three, I argue that the sense in which the polis is prior to man implies as a corollary that man is a political animal.
This essay elucidates Aristotle's understanding of the phenomena of the outlandish (atopon), wond... more This essay elucidates Aristotle's understanding of the phenomena of the outlandish (atopon), wonder (thauma), and perplexity (aporia) in relation to philosophy. Taking its bearing from the genetic account of the science of wisdom presented in Metaphysics A, 1–2, it attempts to unearth the parallel structure of philosophy. Beginning by wondering at things that immediately appear contrary to our commonly held opinions, we gradually and teleologically ascend to the eternally perplexing question of beingness itself. Besides clarifying this ascent, of scholarly interest in itself, the essay also goes some way towards viewing Aristotle's " teleology " not as metaphysically dogmatic: the attainment of wisdom, but as fully open to the spirit of questioning: philosophy and its self-knowledge.
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Suivi de « Mémoires du Hajj... Le pèlerinage à La Mecque vu à travers les Arts de l’Islam, la production intellectuelle et matérielle de l’époque médiévale à l’époque contemporaine. » et de trois recensions.
Le débat sur la philosophie arabe classique et le rapport que la philosophie européenne moderne entretient à son égard a fait ces dernières années l’objet de « débats » voire de polémiques ayant parfois débordé du cadre stricte des spécialistes.
Un des aspects de ces débats prend racine dans la désignation de cette philosophie. Elle semble être problématique. Faut-il continuer de l’appeler philosophie arabe en raison de la langue dans laquelle elle s’est souvent exprimée, y compris chez des penseurs qui ont pu être chrétiens ou juifs ; ou bien philosophie islamique, à savoir réflexion issue de l’hellénisme poursuivi dans un cadre religieux d’imprégnation musulmane ; ou encore philosophie de l’islam, à savoir effort d’élucidation des questions posées en propre par le message coranique et le hadith ? Il ne s’agit pas simplement d’une question terminologique. Il s’agit bien entendu de ce que le concept même de philosophie arabe ou de philosophie islamique peut recouvrir et des auteurs auxquels il peut renvoyer.
Une approche encore plus large de cette thématique est d'interroger la pertinence même des expressions « philosophie arabe » et « philosophie islamique », au sens où nous pourrions considérer que la philosophie en climat islamique n’est que la « poursuite du dialogue exigeant dans lequel, continûment et, en droit, partout, la philosophie se crée ».
Finalement, comment peut-on définir cette philosophie et quelle actualité philosophique peut-elle avoir ? C'est à toutes ces questions que les travaux présentés dans ce volume tentent d'apporter une réponse.
Papers by Shawn Welnak
that leaves room for a novel way of viewing the naturalness of the city: the city is natural insofar as it the activity of a natural substance. Lastly, regarding claim three, I argue that the sense in which the polis is prior to man implies as a corollary that man is a political animal.
Drafts by Shawn Welnak
Suivi de « Mémoires du Hajj... Le pèlerinage à La Mecque vu à travers les Arts de l’Islam, la production intellectuelle et matérielle de l’époque médiévale à l’époque contemporaine. » et de trois recensions.
Le débat sur la philosophie arabe classique et le rapport que la philosophie européenne moderne entretient à son égard a fait ces dernières années l’objet de « débats » voire de polémiques ayant parfois débordé du cadre stricte des spécialistes.
Un des aspects de ces débats prend racine dans la désignation de cette philosophie. Elle semble être problématique. Faut-il continuer de l’appeler philosophie arabe en raison de la langue dans laquelle elle s’est souvent exprimée, y compris chez des penseurs qui ont pu être chrétiens ou juifs ; ou bien philosophie islamique, à savoir réflexion issue de l’hellénisme poursuivi dans un cadre religieux d’imprégnation musulmane ; ou encore philosophie de l’islam, à savoir effort d’élucidation des questions posées en propre par le message coranique et le hadith ? Il ne s’agit pas simplement d’une question terminologique. Il s’agit bien entendu de ce que le concept même de philosophie arabe ou de philosophie islamique peut recouvrir et des auteurs auxquels il peut renvoyer.
Une approche encore plus large de cette thématique est d'interroger la pertinence même des expressions « philosophie arabe » et « philosophie islamique », au sens où nous pourrions considérer que la philosophie en climat islamique n’est que la « poursuite du dialogue exigeant dans lequel, continûment et, en droit, partout, la philosophie se crée ».
Finalement, comment peut-on définir cette philosophie et quelle actualité philosophique peut-elle avoir ? C'est à toutes ces questions que les travaux présentés dans ce volume tentent d'apporter une réponse.
that leaves room for a novel way of viewing the naturalness of the city: the city is natural insofar as it the activity of a natural substance. Lastly, regarding claim three, I argue that the sense in which the polis is prior to man implies as a corollary that man is a political animal.