Does the Renaissance have roots in Islamic philosophy?

Natalia Vorontsova interviews Prof. Peter Adamson about the importance of Islamic philosophy for Western thought. Although little known in the West, philosophers such as Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes) played an absolutely crucial role in preserving, building on, and transmitting to the West the wisdom of Aristotle, Plato, and the Neoplatonists during the Middle Ages. Similarly, Suhrawardī's Philosophy of Illumination and Ibn Arabī's doctrine of the Unity of Being continue to influence Western thought to this day. If we want to understand the history of European philosophy, we cannot ignore these influential scholars and sages.
This video has human-created English subtitles, so don't forget to click on the 'CC' button below the video to enable them.
If you would like to learn more about Islamic philosophy, you may wish to visit www.historyofphilosophy.net/
00:00 Intro
00:02:07 The Renaissance and Islamic philosophy
00:10:46 Perennial wisdom and translation movements
00:15:39 Western thought: footnotes to Plato?
00:18:09 Why did the scientific revolution take place in Europe and not in the Islamic world?
00:24:52 Mathematical and mechanistic approaches to nature
00:31:14 Islamic philosophy: followers of Aristotle or Plato & Neoplatonism?
00:36:51 Idealism? Materialism? Something else?
00:43:42 Influence of Islamic philosophy on post-classical European thought
00:46:45 The metaphysics of Avicenna
00:49:58 Avicenna on the mind-body problem
00:53:44 Followers of Avicenna: Suhrawardi and his metaphysics
01:01:07 Suhrawardi: intuitive versus discursive philosophy
01:06:32 Surhawardi: the non-dual approach
01:08:52 Saladin and the fate of Suhrawardi
01:13:17 Ibn Arabi, his metaphysics and Sufi philosophy
01:22:23 Conclusions: the role of Islamic philosophy
01:27:13 Recommended reading
01:28:25 An afterthought
Copyright © 2023 by Essentia Foundation. All rights reserved.

Пікірлер: 42

  • @HABEEBS007
    @HABEEBS0074 ай бұрын

    MashaAllah that was such an engaging conversation. I can hear this for any number of hours. Natalia's ending comments made me enthralled and my eyes welled up. Thanks a ton for such a wonderful session ❤

  • @liminally-spacious
    @liminally-spaciousАй бұрын

    Awesome interview. Thank you so much for the overview of Islamic philosophy. I find the emanationist tradition fascinating.

  • @dorothysatterfield3699
    @dorothysatterfield36996 ай бұрын

    Many thanks. And now I've discovered yet another podcast I have to catch up on.

  • @Jacob-Vivimord
    @Jacob-Vivimord6 ай бұрын

    What is the context of this video? How is it related to the purpose of the channel? It seemed Adamson was saying there wasn't a great deal of monistic idealism metaphysics in Islamic philosophy.

  • @alija-sirbeg
    @alija-sirbeg4 ай бұрын

    Thank you, Natalia! Beauifulll!

  • @TheGerogero
    @TheGerogeroАй бұрын

    I would like to know to what degree figures of the "Islamic Golden Age" could more accurately be referred to as Persian.

  • @maxheadrom3088
    @maxheadrom30886 ай бұрын

    Very interesting! Thank you! I would love to see something about the influence of Christianity in the development of science. Thanks!

  • @Sikeena
    @Sikeena3 ай бұрын

    Having researched at length the influence of Islamic philosophy on the European Renaissance, I found this discussion to be very interesting. In my Master's Dissertation, submitted to the Warburg Institute in Sept 2022, I delve into this question in-depth; particularly linking the continuities of thought between classical Islamic philosophy and Pico della Mirandola. In my thesis, I investigate the “wondrous” nature of humankind with which Pico opens his famous Oration (on the Dignity of Man) finding parallels in classical Islamic humanism, which elevates humankind to a station above the angels by virtue of their intellect. I specifically focus on the ideas of Ibn Ṭufayl whose seminal work Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān eschews societal norms as well as the acceptance of dogma and tradition (taqlīd) in favour of intellectual thought and rationalism (Ijtihād). I argue that Pico della Mirandola follows a similar trajectory, that favours philosophy over revealed religion, thereby elevating (according to Pico) the human being from the beastly mores of medieval European philosophy towards the loftier realms of the studia humanitatis that encapsulates the humanism of the Quattrocento. It is wonderful to see as celebrated a scholar of the history of philosophy as Peter Adamson, picking up on this topic

  • @jordanedgeley6601
    @jordanedgeley66016 ай бұрын

    Love this. Thank you ❤

  • @clintjones6966
    @clintjones69664 ай бұрын

    I think that if Islam has never happened, Renaissance would indeed be very different. I suspect there would be no Schism (as there would be Pentarchy) and thoughts and writings of Antic world would be much more ready available in Europe. Therefore Renaissance would have happened much faster.

  • @nitahill6951
    @nitahill69516 ай бұрын

    A really enjoyable and informative discussion! Prof. Adamson framing of the contribution of the Islamic world to Western philosophy was illuminating. Unfortunately my own reading had been very haphazard and the structure he provided was greatly appreciated. Thank you both for your time and attention.

  • @carlosg7873
    @carlosg78736 ай бұрын

    Thank you for this enligtning conversation. I would just like to say that addressing the influence of islamic thought in the Renaissance, was due largely to the influence of Gemisto Plato who introduced greek philosophy to Florence thru the traslations of the greek philosophers by the islamic thinkers who actually rescued them for us.

  • @MartyMcK
    @MartyMcK6 ай бұрын

    Neo Platonic which also influenced Christianity and Kabbalah.

  • @spiritfilled5758
    @spiritfilled57586 ай бұрын

    I appreciate this channel and the heart behind the work being done through the Essentia Foundation, to benefit humanity,.❤

  • @HigoWapsico
    @HigoWapsico6 ай бұрын

    The House of Kastrup is on 🔥🔥🔥 Thank you, this was excellent. Having a hard time trusting any academics/experts these days, but this was interesting and enjoyable… Apropos “Dark Ages/Renaissance” If I may offer a guest suggestion, Steve Patterson…

  • @AndresWalsh
    @AndresWalsh6 ай бұрын

    Dies Prof. Peter Adamson ever address East Asian philosophy in his Philosophy Without Any Gaps series?

  • @bw7601

    @bw7601

    6 ай бұрын

    He is going to start a series on classical chinese philosophy next year

  • @sxsmith44
    @sxsmith446 ай бұрын

    He doesn’t seem to be aware of BK’s analytic idealism and she didn’t define it for him at 38 min in.

  • @nitahill6951
    @nitahill69516 ай бұрын

    And as an aside...Were any Islamic thinkers influenced by the Pre-Socratics?

  • @peteradamson4108

    @peteradamson4108

    6 ай бұрын

    Peter Adamson here! Yes, sort of: remember that a lot of our knowledge of the Presocratics is in Aristotle, and they translated him. So they were aware of their basic doctrines at least. Their names were also attached to popular wisdom traditions (like, wise sayings) in ways that usually didn't have anything to do with the real thinkers though.

  • @nitahill6951

    @nitahill6951

    6 ай бұрын

    Thank you for the reply. I had read somewhere that there was a special interest in Empedocles. but I had no idea that his writings were filtered thorough Aristotle. Thank you in this time of love and strife!@@peteradamson4108

  • @akramelmansouri6752
    @akramelmansouri67526 ай бұрын

    Why call it islamic philosophy and compare it to a European one? Islam as it is in the texts it claims devine has nothing to do with th philosophies that emerged at its time, and it would be an insult to all philosophers and scientists of the time to do so. I would call it at least - as you refer to European philosophy - a middle eastern philosophy. Even better? "Arabic philosophy" as many scholars like to refer to it, since some of these "islamic philosophies" were produced by non Muslims !

  • @Psychedelic_Psychedeler

    @Psychedelic_Psychedeler

    4 ай бұрын

    Exactly !

  • @jacobdillow2375

    @jacobdillow2375

    Ай бұрын

    Kind of a flat, two dimensional view of the issue. Among scholars of religion the relation of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus has been a topic of keen interest for centuries.

  • @akramelmansouri6752

    @akramelmansouri6752

    Ай бұрын

    ​@@jacobdillow2375 i don't get how your comment is responding to anything in mine. "islamic" philosophers or scientists of the time didn't produce the set of thoughts they had based on the Islamic religion (i.e Quran and Hadith). it's more as if they were exceptional people (which usually pop over from century to the other) that found themselves born in an islamic fundementally religious society. what's even worse is that most of these "Islamic" philosophers were called heretics and none muslim by religious "savants" of the time. it would be more honest to refer to what these brilliant men produced by the area from which they came, i.e. the middle East, Crediting Islam : the set of brain rotting dogmatic religious ideas to the sometimes wonderful work of these great humans is an insult to them and their intellectual effort. And does nothing but keep deeply endoctrinated individuals think their religion must be so awsome and thus true to be the source and inspiration to what the video calls "Islamic philosphies".

  • @ahadkhan3486

    @ahadkhan3486

    Күн бұрын

    I suppose you have the same sentiments for Jewish philosophy? Btw how would your theory account for learned scholars of Islam and Falsafa, such as Ibn Arabi for example? Its not like these were hard lined distinctions in the medieval world, most of these same philosophers were Islamic Judges as well​@akramelmansouri6752

  • @akramelmansouri6752

    @akramelmansouri6752

    Күн бұрын

    ​@@ahadkhan3486 i'd guess you're a muslim since you backslide to anything jew. To clarify that first : Jewish philosophy considers itself an intellectual tradition within Judaism. It involves speculative inquiry rooted in Jewish religious perspectives, concerns, and canonical texts. In contrast, what is often called Islamic philosophy refers to philosophical work produced in Islamic societies. Since it is not exclusively concerned with religious issues and not only produced by Muslims, many scholars prefer the term "Arabic philosophy." i refered to it as "middle eastern", but i think "arabic" would be more apropriate. Ibn Arabi? really? i mean he was indeed considered a great shaykh of isoteric islam (sufism) .. but as i mentionned in a previous reply, him too was severely condemned by many with charges of heresy, unbelief, blasphemy, pantheism, and even atheism. prooving once again the dissociation between the ideas of most philosophers of the time and the actual doctrine of islam (especially sunnism that is majority of the muslim world).

  • @levous2
    @levous24 ай бұрын

    Sorry but this guy is just missing everything important about this topic. It wasn’t because of cultural reform that Europe progressed while others stayed behind. It was the paper mill and then the printing press and exponentially accelerated the advancement and exchange of ideas that rapidly transformed the western culture, including the foundations of philosophical and religious belief. The Islamic world banned the printing press, with the penalty of death, as an unholy device. If not for that one catastrophically poor decision, the world would have progressed in unison. It’s ridiculous that Adamson says, “I don't think its that sensible to spend a lot of effort trying to explain why things don't happen.” Seriously?! Isn’t that rather an important question? And is technology and access to information not a pretty profound reason why Europe went on to dominate globally for centuries? I’m sure he’s a smart guy but what a closed minded discussion!

  • @imaginaryuniverse632
    @imaginaryuniverse6326 ай бұрын

    Might save some splaining if instead of flying man he told the story of sensory deprivation chamber man. 🤶

  • @nataliavorontsova3205

    @nataliavorontsova3205

    6 ай бұрын

    Indeed, that is what comes to mind when listening to this story... which is remarkable because this thought experiment was done ~11 centuries ago, long before sensory depravation chambers were invented :)

  • @roygbiv176
    @roygbiv1766 ай бұрын

    This guy's perenialism denial is absurd. You only have to read a little from Timaeus or Phaedo to see a striking resemblance to the much older Upanishads.

  • @ChristianSt97

    @ChristianSt97

    6 ай бұрын

    the greeks were definitely influenced by eastern philosophy

  • @bw7601

    @bw7601

    6 ай бұрын

    because your subjective experience of resemblance when reading modern translated texts defo beats a world leading expert in the field

  • @ChristianSt97

    @ChristianSt97

    6 ай бұрын

    @@bw7601 he is not saying anything controversial. being an expert doesnt mean being right

  • @roygbiv176

    @roygbiv176

    6 ай бұрын

    ​@@bw7601I'm not trying to be dismissive of Adamson, he clearly has a very vast range of knowledge and seems to be a great source for this. However there were several opinions he expressed with a typical modern tilt. This is perfectly normal among researchers, we all live amid the prejudices of our time, however there are a number of such prejudices or tendencies common today that I take issue with. Other examples include the somewhat dismissive attitude to Berkeley and Kant & the insistance on taking certain philosophers less literally...

  • @bw7601

    @bw7601

    6 ай бұрын

    ⁠@@roygbiv176 Using the phrase “perennialism denial” and calling adamson absurd is 100% dismissing him. Trust me, there are few academics who attempt to get out of modern perspectives and viewpoints MORE than Adamson does. In fact, whenever he is questioned why his (quite unpopular) field of the history of philosophy is important he says it is to escape the biases of modern viewpoints. But perennialism isn’t just some out of date philosophical viewpoint, it’s, as he describes, a historically contingent rhetorical strategy for reinforcing a certain worldview, that in order to make credible one must flatten all the intricacies of historical traditions’ specificity. And it rests on a lot of misconceptions and bogus history, for instance the idea we have any evidence Plato studied in Egypt