Philosophy in the Islamic World: A history of philosophy without any gaps, Volume 3 1st Edition
by Peter Adamson (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 85 ratings
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Adamson gives a solid introduction to this encompassing history, which clearly will help students to acquire a serious first knowledge of this rich and complex history, but also often offers the advanced reader interesting insights." -- Jules Janssens, Tidschrift voor Filosofie
About the Author
Peter Adamson took his doctorate from the University of Notre Dame and first worked at King's College London. In 2012 he moved to the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen, where he is Professor of Late Ancient and Arabic Philosophy. He has published widely in ancient and medieval philosophy,
especially on Neoplatonism and on philosophy in the Islamic world.
Product details
ASIN : 0199577498
Publisher : Oxford University Press; 1st edition (October 1, 2016)
Language : English
Hardcover : 280 pages
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Customer Reviews: 4.7 out of 5 stars 85 ratings
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Top reviews from the United States
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5.0 out of 5 stars It is amazing that Ibn Sina found time to make seminal contributions ...
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2018
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Outstanding book. Reflects deep appreciation of the continuum of philosophical development in the Islamic world, and the competing ideas over time. The detailed analysis of Ibn Sina's contribution alone is worth the price of the book. It is amazing that Ibn Sina found time to make seminal contributions in Philosophy while being distracted by his modest side project ... a text that gave the word Canon to the English language, and was the authoritative text in Medicine in Europe and Asia for almost seven centuries.
I wish Dr Adamson had spent a little less time on some of the Jewish scholars and more the contributions of Imam al Haramain (who was such a purist that he refused to accept anything without going back to first principles, including his treatment on the Existence of God)) and Imam al Ashari. More detailed treatment of some contemporary writers such as wahdatul wajood (Syed Naqib ul Attas is the first name that comes to mind), al Ghazali fans such as Hamza Yusuf, and proponents of various Salafi strains would have rounded things of nicely.
But no big deal. Still a wonderful read, so I gave it 5 stars.
Omar Hasan, PhD
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Highland Courtier
5.0 out of 5 stars A Terrific Tome!
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2020
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While I haven’t finished this book as of yet, I wanted to go ahead and give a big thumbs up to the material. Peter Adamson does a marvelous job of making both his books and his wonderful podcast series, The History of Philosophy without Any Gaps, engaging for the active student and just entertaining enough to add a punch of fun for the general reader. I’m glad to have all the books in this series.
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Tom
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative History
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2018
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Discusses history in a way that provides far more detail than the propaganda "bullets" about Islamic subjects which are too popular now. It is well worth the time to read this book.
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nathangsundt
1.0 out of 5 stars Missing Chapter
Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2018
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Unfortunately, I received this book and immediately had to put it aside for a month. When I went to read it, I opened it and discovered that the first chapter (literally) is missing. The binding and construction of the book looks fine; however, the first page is the opening of chapter 2 rather than of chapter 1. Sadly, it appears that since the month passed, I cannot return it.
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David Bzdak
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent. Follows the podcast pretty closely
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2017
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Excellent. Follows the podcast pretty closely, but has some extra bells and whistles as well.
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douglas a. dailey
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2017
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wonderful copy and book
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M. Quraishi
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2017
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Great book, great podcasts as well. Book came in excellent condition, cover has a nice feel to it
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Hamza Philip
5.0 out of 5 stars No Gaps with just a few exceptions.
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2019
It used to be that books on on Islamic Philosophy would take the reader to the period of up to where Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina were criticized by Al-Ghazali, who is in turn criticized by Ibn Rushd, An Author can get away with that no longer. I want to read about Mulla Sadra Al Shirazi, He's in this book. I also wanted to read about the founder of the Iranian school of Illuminationism, Shahab al-Din Yahya ibn Habash Suhrawardi. He is in this book, also. And there are so many others.
Philosophy in the Islamic World: A history of Philosophy without any gaps, Volume 3,is an excellent summary of Islamic philosophy. One reviewer hoped that a section could be added about modern American Muslim scholar, Shaykh Hamzah Yusuf, who is a modern scholar of Al-Ghazali. I agree. However, the book as it is stands up very well. Perhaps a second edition might contain such a section.
I converted to 12er Shi'i Islam in 1999 (as many Americans were and are converting to Sunni, Shia, Sufi, Quranist, and, sadly, Wahabist Muslim groups) the Sunnis took the lead in translating materials, followed by the Sufis at the time. Of late, there is more material available. Sadly, there is also more Wahabist material available, plus material that goes beyond scholarly criticism and is nothing but slanderous propaganda (by authors like Bill Warner, Robert Sperncer and etc.) who try to paint Al-Qaeda and ISIS and similar groups as normal Islam from the beginning. The results of such books can be seen in such infamous events as the Christchurch massacre of Muslims in New Zealand in 2019. Obviously, any reading of the canonical Gospels would lead any Christian NOT to act like the gunmen in the Christchurch to act like the gunman in that massacre, especially in a city with that name.
I believe the author of this book communicates to modern readers how different kinds of Muslim thinker real thought since the time of Muhammad, and there is a variety of viewpoints. Muslims were the best of peoples and the worst of peoples, just like Christians and Jews.
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Pegasus Enif
4.0 out of 5 stars Poor quality production.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 9, 2017
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Excellent book but disappointingly poor quality book production – printed on very low quality papers unsuitable for a quality book.
Shame, a famed publisher like OUP would go so low on quality despite charging premium price for the book.
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sam
5.0 out of 5 stars An ideal introduction to the subject
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 3, 2016
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A well written and accessible analysis of a very difficult subject.
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Ammann Paul
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book - four reasons
Reviewed in Germany on July 21, 2016
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1. You get to know the famous philosophers of the formative period - Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Avicenna,..
2. There is a big section about philosophy in Anadalusia with Averroes, Ibn Tufayl among others - even Ibn Arabi is presented. The author calls his work "philosophical sufism".
3. Very, very important: It is clearly stated and shown and explained that the time after the formative period was not a time of decline: page 293: "Rather than offering an explanation of this decline, I am going to tell you that there is no decline to explain,..." This section is great: it is very interesting to get to know the philosophers of this period - by the way including Ibn Taymiyya
4. You get to know the essence and existence of Hiawatha the giraffe
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Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars Kindle version is poor quality.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 16, 2017
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I'm sorry, but if you can't publish kindle books properly, then don't. When I started using a kindle I was conned into buying books that did not work properly for kindle. At the time the availability of a refund was not widely advertised and I consider that money stolen by major publishers who could not be bothered to do the work. Time has moved on and a publisher like OUP should absolutely not be free-riding like this.
The problem is that if you have maps, tables and other material that is fixed sized, it will be unreadable on most readers (kindle, tablet etc). Some publishers seem to manage to publish usable ebooks with complex material (eg mathematics, maps, tables) in it. If you can't be bothered to do that, you should no longer be in the business of selling ebooks. You just waste customers time and for those who don't get around to getting a refund in time, steal their money. Shame on you.
The book may or may not be good in content, but I haven't been able to tell.
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Philosophy in the Islamic World
(A History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps #3)
by
Peter S. Adamson
4.39 · Rating details · 128 ratings · 21 reviews
The latest in the series based on the popular History of Philosophy podcast, this volume presents the first full history of philosophy in the Islamic world for a broad readership. It takes an approach unprecedented among introductions to this subject, by providing full coverage of Jewish and Christian thinkers as well as Muslims, and by taking the story of philosophy from its beginnings in the world of early Islam all the way through to the twentieth century. Major figures like Avicenna, Averroes, and Maimonides are covered in great detail, but the book also looks at less familiar thinkers, including women philosophers. Attention is also given to the philosophical relevance of Islamic theology (kalam) and mysticism--the Sufi tradition within Islam, and Kabbalah among Jews--and to science, with chapters on disciplines like optics and astronomy. The book is divided into three sections, with the first looking at the first blossoming of Islamic theology and responses to the Greek philosophical tradition in the world of Arabic learning. This 'formative period' culminates with the work of Avicenna, the pivotal figure to whom most later thinkers feel they must respond. The second part of the book discusses philosophy in Muslim Spain (Andalusia), where Jewish philosophers come to the fore, though this is also the setting for such thinkers as Averroes and Ibn Arabi. Finally, a third section looks in unusual detail at later developments, touching on philosophy in the Ottoman, Mughal, and Safavid empires and showing how thinkers in the nineteenth to the twentieth century were still concerned to respond to the ideas that had animated philosophy in the Islamic world for centuries, while also responding to political and intellectual challenges from the European colonial powers.
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Hardcover, 544 pages
Published October 1st 2016 by Oxford University Press (first published 2016)
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Aug 08, 2019Brian rated it really liked it
This is the third and most recent volume of Peter Adamsom's History of Philosophy series, and this book is the most important of the three and perhaps of any potential future volumes, since it covers key philosophers who I pretty much never heard of but are incredibly important if you want to understand Thomas Aquinas, and if you want to understand modern philosophers such as Hegel, then you need to understand Aquinas. So yes, this is an important task.
This book is much broader and wider than any of the other books and a lot less of it stuck with me, since I knew pretty much all the pre-socratics and most of the classical philosophers and even most of the church fathers, but none of the Islamic philosophers. Even my knowledge of Islamic history is pretty sketchy. So, to refresh myself I looked at the first chapter of Peter Adamson's Very Short Introduction to review what I learned:
* Basic terms: Hadith = Islamic tradition, sufism = Islamic mysticism, Falsafa = Islamic philosophy, Kalaam = Islamic theology
* Mutazites: The first group of theologians who emphasized the oneness of God and that He does not have multiple attributes. They also were staunch defenders of free will.
* Asharites: A school that took issue with the Mutazites and claimed God actually had distinct attributes. God creates everything, including human action. God's sovereignty is protected here. They also held a divine command theory of ethics.
* Al-Kindi: First Islamic philosopher who was largely involved in getting a very limited set of classical Greek philosophical texts into the Islamic world.
* AVICENNNA: This guy is so important that everyone else pales before him. If there is any Islamic philosopher who changed the world, THIS GUY IS IT. Arrogant and brash, but absolutely genius, Avicenna truly seems to have contributed things to philosophy that Aristotle didn't have and which Aquinas utilized (and presumably a great many of the medieval philosophers). The idea that God is a necessary being and that everything else is contingent can be traced back to him (and I am inclined to think this is a lost jewel in defenses of classical theism that we need to recover).
* Al-Ghazali: Wrote a book on The Incoherence of the Philosophers. Tried to dial philosophy back. It didn't work.
* Averroes: A Jewish philosopher in Spain who commented on philosopher and was one of the main philosophers that Aquinas responded to. He believed that the universe was eternal
* Maimonides: Another Jewish philosopher and commentator on Jewish legal texts in Spain. He tried to recover Aristotle and wrote a book called Guide for the Perplexed which seemed at times to veer perilously close to putting philosophy about revelation. It got his books burned as a result!
* Suhrawardi: founded the illuminationist tradition and critiqued Avicenna. He tried to argue that the difference between God and man was not necessity v. contingency, but between light and dimness.
* Al-Tulsi: turncoat philosopher who commentated on and defended Avicenna.
* Taymiyya: A thinker who largely rejected the Islamic jurists and tried to go back to the Koran. Seemed to me like a bit of a theonomy, Van Tilian movement. He wasn't important until the 20th century.
* Modern age: The most disappointing. It really isn't where the action seems to be, though of course Adamson makes short work of the narrative of philosophical decline. The giants like Avicenna, Averroes, et al. no longer walked the earth, but that's not everything.
So this book made me want to dive into Avicenna, Averroes, Maimonides, and to know more about this world in general. Insofar as it did that, it succeeded. But this was also a hard work to finish and it didn't really do a good job of giving me a handle on the different threads. Give the guy a break, since this is over a millennium of philosophy. But still, a shorter book might have been more effective. (less)
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Oct 28, 2016Emma rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: netgalley
Having read Philosophy in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds, it seemed only right to continue with the next in the series despite knowing precisely nothing about Jewish, Christian, or Muslim philosophy from this geographical area in any period. So with my stunning lack of qualification to evaluate the information in this book firmly in your mind, i'll begin my review...
Adamson is thoroughly prepared for readers like me, the ignorant if enthusiastic beginner. His format is clear, organised, and well signposted, while his style is both readable and engaging. For me, it helped that he sometimes elaborates on the resonances between Classical, Hellenic, Roman philosophy and the intellectuals he discusses in this volume, as I'm much more familiar with those frameworks, and it gave a firmer groundwork to start thinking about these ideas and arguments. At the same time, this book is not simply a reflection of how thinkers in the Islamic World reacted to ancient or 'Western' philosophy. Right from the outset, Adamson says that 'Islam gave rise to philosophical reflection in the absence of any explicit reference to Hellenic thought' [loc 276]. Even so, Islam is treated as an essential factor without overwhelming the book.
One favourite chapter was that on translation. It's a subject that never ceases to interest me, the way words and ideas move through languages. In 'Spelling', Margaret Atwood says that 'A word after a word after a word is power'. If so, what is lost, changed, or gained when the words themselves are transformed? In any case, the translation movement discussed here is that of the Greek to Arabic, started under al-Mansur, who reigned from 750s-770s and the founder of the Abbasid Caliphate. Adams suggests that 'without al-Mansur, his successor caliphs, and other rich patrons of the Abbasid age, there would have been no tradition of Hellenising thought in the Islamic world' [loc 473]. Considering the importance of this to the preservation of ancient/Hellenic texts (some of which were essential reading for my MA), the mechanics of this process were engrossing reading.
While I knew the collapse of the Roman Empire led to many ancient texts falling into obscurity, I was unaware of how and why they came to be revived and translated in the Muslim world. Adams notes the role of bilingual Christian intermediaries from Syria, who produced increasing numbers of translations in Syriac as the knowledge of Greek declined. These works bridged the gap between the ancient texts and the Arabic translation movement [loc 513]. The thought of words and ideas being moved from Greek to Syriac to Arabic raises so many issues of translation and comprehension. Are they word for word? Do the follow the meaning and the feel rather than the specific? Indeed, Adamson says that one group of translators, the al-Kind circle were accused at times of being either too literal or taking too many liberties with the source text [loc 543]. What is the true role of the translator here? It may have been that al-Kind deliberately changed theories to suit his own interpretations, 'the prologue to the Theology says that he "corrected" the text' [loc 584]. If so, then these texts become important evidence in themselves, as one may argue all translations do, of the time in which they were translated, of the prevailing ideas and focus, and especially of the priorities and prejudices of the translator.
Now if all of that hasn't convinced you of how thrilling ancient translation studies can be, I don't know what will...
More importantly though, it should indicate the extensive research Adamson has put into this volume. There is much here to interest a reader and a lot to learn. For those that can't put in the time for this one, the author also does Philosophy in the Islamic World: A Very Short Introduction, which I haven't yet read.
Thanks to Peter Adamson, Oxford University Press, and Netgalley for the chance to read this review copy. All opinions are my own. (less)
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Nov 24, 2018Frank rated it liked it
Shelves: non-fiction, philosophy, religion
A credible effort toward comprehensiveness, aimed at covering practically all(!) philosophy in lands under Muslim control. A great many of philosophers are almost unknown in Europe. It was especially interesting to see how Moslem, Christian and Jewish thinkers reacted to the same Greek influences, especially Aristotle and the Neoplatonists.
PA is a very engaging writer/speaker, and he somehow manages to make a heavy task seem light. Karen Armstrong attempted something similar. This is better.
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Jan 13, 2021Luke rated it liked it
Shelves: geo-africa, geo-europe, philosophy, history, geo-middle-east
A much harder read than earlier volumes. Perhaps it's because the characters and ideas are less familiar than the classical period, or it could be because this is Adamson's specialization, so he assumes readers have a certain baseline level of knowledge that isn't really there. At least, that's the case for me. Still, it's a very welcome contribution, and the Andalusian portion of the book simply fascinated me. (less)
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Nov 16, 2019Tamar rated it it was amazing
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Islamic philosophy. I am immensely impressed by Peter Adamson's ability to take intricate conceptions and ideas and make them so accessible and interesting. With his puns, jokes, and clear examples the book is easy to follow and fun to read. (less)
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Jan 03, 2022LuisJ rated it really liked it
Shelves: philosophy
Another solid entry in the series; although at times I struggled a little with so many unfamiliar yet similar sounding names. Given that the viewpoints are almost entirely concerned with religious matters it was a bit hard-going (even compared with his first two books on 'Classical philosophy' and 'Hellenistic Philosophy', respectively, which naturally also feature much discussion of god).
I did feel that many of the philosophers and positions got more of a free-ride than other volumes, but this is on "Philosophy in the Islamic World" and so perhaps that's fair enough.
I also didn't really feel that bowled over by arguments for the progress of Islamic thought in the medieval period. Sure, no one was sitting on their hands but it all felt a little bit like getting blood out of a stone given all the fatwas that were being issued and accusations of heresy, etc.
As in the case of the first two in the series, the hardback quality is superb and is a great example of what a quality hardback should be like (I actually think that the R.R.P. of £25 is too low for this sort of quality and specialist knowledge). The covers (not the dust-jackets, which are also nice enough) are great and look amazing on a shelf as a collection. The binding is really solid and felt like is going to survive many re-readings/referencing sessions. Likewise the paper is a really nice white and just feels like good quality and the weight is reassuringly hefty. The font and layout is the same as the first two books and is perfect. (less)
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Jun 11, 2020E. rated it really liked it · review of another edition
What a thorough book. Not only is there good, serious treatment of all the major figures, there were so many thinkers he covered which I had never heard of before. And some of whom I now want to read in the primary sources.
The book is in three sections, all of which could have been their own books. The first is philosophy in the Islamic world in the formative period from al-Kindi up through Ibn Sina and Al-Ghazali. The second section covers the unique context of philosophy in Andalusia with significant treatment of Jewish thinkers from Moorish Spain. Of course this tradition blended into the late Medieval Latin Christian philosophical traditions, but didn't have as much influence on the Islamic philosophies in the East. The final section covers mostly eastern Islam after Ibn Sina up to the 21st century, defending the claim that there was still vibrant philosophy underway which has been largely ignored by the European tradition. (less)
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Jul 10, 2018Diogenes rated it it was amazing
OK, first off, my philosophy courses in undergrad were a very long time ago (and I have not read volumes one or two), and while Dr. Adamson claims this volume three is not holistic (what single work could be?), it is incredibly detailed, encyclopedic, and wonderfully written with such a fantastic sense of humor that helps us philosophical plebs digest this truly weighty topic, and all the cultural cross-pollination that occurred through the ages.
Dr. Adamson is a scholar of superb skill, and this would be a solid reference for any research project. I'll assume his other works are equally rewarding. (less)
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Mar 04, 2020Nabilah rated it it was amazing
This is really, really a great primer on the history of philosophy in the Muslim world and the resources list provided at the end is also a great reference for further study on the topic. Learning about history of philosophy is different than learning the mentioned philosophy themselves and this book managed to make me want to delve into all of the mentioned theories.
The only major gripe i had with this book is that it doesn't cover Southeast Asian Muslim philosophy at all. I wish it do because the region have a lot to offer in terms of philosophy. (less)
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Dec 13, 2019Eduardo rated it it was amazing
Shelves: history, philosophy
Illuminating installment of Adamson's long haul effort, stressing:
- continuity of late Roman thinking
- the relevance of Avicenna's role as Aristotle's substitute
- interaction among Muslim, Jewish, and Christian authors
- further lesser-studied-by-Westerners thinkers, up to today
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Aug 13, 2018Jacob Andrews rated it really liked it
Listened to podcast version over last several years. Highly recommend.
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Feb 27, 2020Arman Firman rated it it was amazing
Philosophy has been made very easy in this book by Peter Adamson. And his jokes they are so awesome, I would read the whole series only for his jokes!
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Mar 30, 2020Kumail Akbar rated it it was amazing
Shelves: islam, history, history-of-ideas-philosophy, religion, non-western-philosophy-ideas
Simply Superb. If you dont wish to read the book, the companion podcast is excellent as well
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Apr 28, 2020Julio rated it really liked it
Very good book, a bit sloppy, it feels like direct transcriptions from the podcast by Peter Adamson. It is a good collection and it is well done overall.
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Aug 06, 2020Hasan Mahmood rated it it was amazing
Excellent introduction to Islamic World Philosophy, with lots of further reading material
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Nov 13, 2018Adam Glantz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
If anyone can make 1,300 years of philosophy in the Muslim world accessible to the layman, it's Peter Adamson, though for those outside the tradition it's still a challenge to keep all the names with their respective philosophical positions straight. In summary, Islamic philosophy started with its own indigenous tradition of kalam, but with the translation of Greek works into Arabic, it was joined by Hellenistic thought: particularly the Neoplatonists associated with al-Kindi and the Aristotelian logicians of the Baghdad School. Philosophy was systematized by al-Farabi, but the greatest luminary was Avicenna, who eclipsed Aristotle as the main Peripatetic influence. Even critics like al-Ghazali had to deal with him on his own terms, and his thought even found its way into kalam and the Sufi mystical tradition. In Iberia (al-Andalus), Averroes asserted the primacy of Aristotle and the classical tradition was maintained there by Muslims and Jews alike; but aside from this geographical sideshow, philosophers continued to debate and refine the thinking of Avicenna, partly through the medium of commentaries, even if they were deeply critical like ibn Taymiyya or appealed to superrational sources of knowledge, like the Sufis and Illuminationists. Contrary to the received wisdom in the West, Adamson maintains that Islamic philosophy never declined: it only seems that way because western scholars have been late in examining the more recent works from the Islamic world. (less)
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Dec 16, 2016Hamdanil rated it it was amazing
Shelves: religion, islamic-history, philosophy
Very well-written book on an interesting topic. I mostly listened to the podcast and only later read the book version of it. It is very accessibly to beginners on the topic, and the historical and philosophical context are well explained. For example, it explained the various empires and states where the figures lived, or the preceding philosophers that influence those talked about in this book, such as the Greek philosophers. The book have creative ways to make now-obscure concepts make sense, often using giraffes as illustration and a running joke. Very ambitious in size because it attempted to cover a very long period of time (~14 centuries) and regions as varied as Spain, Arab world, Persia, India without "any gap" - inevitably many gaps are found, for example Indonesia is never mentioned. Also, somehow I feel towards the end of the book it gets less interesting. (less)
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Jan 07, 2019Hal rated it really liked it
Listened to the podcast while reading some of it, same as the previous two volumes. Dr Adamson clearly displayed his enthusiasm and expertise in the Islamic history of philosophy, which is his main area of academic interest. So it can be expected that there would be some level of background knowledge that the author presumes the audience to have. It could be either that or my horrible ignorance of Islamic history and culture (or both), I found it difficult to follow from time to time and had to check other sources for better understanding. I am sure it is much more helpful to people who were more familiar with Islamic thoughts and history. In general, I was very grateful that I had the chance to have an initial impression of the philosophical thoughts and religious background of this period. (less)
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