PHILOSOPHICAL
THOUGHT IN ISLAM
The word philosophy
comes from two Greek terms philein and sophia, and literally
means ‘love of wisdom’. From one point of view, philosophy is ‘a critical,
reflective analysis of what we think we know about ourselves and our universe’.
Philosophy is based on the attempt to understand reality rationally, whereas
theology is based on an appeal to supernatural revelation. In the West during
the Middle Ages, philosophy was considered ‘the handmaiden of theology’ and
philosophical principles were used to justify religious faith.
Greek and
Roman philosophy
The lineages
and interconnections within the historical development of Greek and Roman
philosophy can be clearly seen. It is generally acknowledged that the first
Greek philosopher was Thales of Miletus, who lived in the sixth century BCE.5
Subsequently, Socrates, whose philosophical teachings adhered to an ethically
influenced analysis, inspired other philosophers such as Plato, who is best
known for his philosophy of ideas and who founded an academy to educate
philosophers. Plato’s disciple Aristotle was one of the greatest Empiricists
and began his own Peripatetic school.
Subsequent to
Aristotle, a number of philosophical trends arose, including the Stoics (who
argued that virtue is the only real good and everything else is an illusion),
the Epicureans (who held that pleasure is the highest end) and the Sceptics
(who believed that nothing can be known for certain). There were other schools
that followed these traditions. Some of these schools had a significant
influence on Islamic philosophy. A particular example was Neoplatonism, which
began with Ammonius Saccas during the third century CE. He forsook Christianity
and developed his own conception of Platonic philosophy with Aristotelian and
Stoic influences. The Neoplatonists developed the theory of emanation, in which
levels of existence come from the existence of the One (Supreme Being).
Near Eastern
philosophy at the dawn of Islam
With the
spread of Islam, particularly after the death of the Prophet, Muslims came into
contact with a range of civilizations. Their conquest of Iraq and Egypt
provided the first major contact between Muslims and the learning that was
inspired by the Greeks. Centres of learning already present in those lands
played a significant role in transmitting both the Greek philosophical
tradition and the medical tradition to Muslims. Scholars from Harran and the
Nestorian Christians from Jundishapur (a major centre of Hellenistic learning)
were influential in the Abbasid court. They provided a link back to Greek
science and knowledge for the Arabs. There were two ways in which Greek
philosophy was transmitted to the mainly Arab Muslims of that period: through
the translation of Greek philosophical works and as a result of the ongoing
interest in medical research.
A
range of philosophical works had been translated into Syriac and were being
taught in Syria at the time of the Muslim conquest there. The conquest did not
stop the study of Greek thought, which was continued largely by Christian
scholars. It was after the conquest of Syria that a number of philosophical,
scientific and medical works were translated from Greek and Syriac into Arabic
from the eighth century CE. The Arab conquerors were fascinated by Greek
thought and many of them encouraged the translation of works into Arabic. The
earliest era of philosophical works in Arabic should be considered the activities
of the translators, such as Hunayn b. Ishaq (d. 260/873).
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