On Logic: An Arabic Critical Edition and English Translation of EPISTLES 10-14 (Epistles of the Brethren of Purity) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199586527 ISBN 13: 9780199586523

Publisher: OUP in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2010

Synopsis

The Ikhwan al-Safa (Brethren of Purity), the anonymous adepts of a tenth-century esoteric fraternity based in Basra and Baghdad, hold an eminent position in the history of science and philosophy in Islam due to the wide reception and assimilation of their monumental encyclopaedia, the Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa (Epistles of the Brethren of Purity). This compendium contains fifty-two epistles offering synoptic accounts of the classical sciences and philosophies of the age; divided into four classificatory parts, it treats themes in mathematics, logic, natural philosophy, psychology, metaphysics, and theology, in addition to didactic fables. The Rasa'il constitutes a paradigmatic legacy in the canonization of philosophy and the sciences in mediaeval Islamic civilization, as well as having shown a permeating influence in Western culture.

The present volume is the second of this definitive series, consisting of the very first critical edition of the Rasa'il in its original Arabic, complete with the first fully annotated English translation. Prepared by Professor Carmela Baffioni, Epistles 10-14 comprise the foundations of logic, which remained a fundamental component in pedagogy until the twentieth century. The Ikhwan treat the Isagoge and the larger part of the Organon, both of which were circulating through the Islamic world at that time, as they set about detailing the ten categories of existents, the five predicables, and other such commonplaces of Aristotelian logic, including his seminal method of syllogistic inference. With the claim that logic is the noblest of man's arts, and man the noblest of creatures, the Ikhwan cast Aristotelian tropes in a spiritual light.

About this title

About the Author

Carmela Baffioni is Professor of the History of Islamic Philosophy and of the History of Muslim Philosophies and Sciences at the University of Naples 'L'Orientale'.

Review

this volume is a fine achievement in its own right, and a promising start to a series which is likely to revolutionize our understanding of the Brethren. * Peter Adamson, Journal of Islamic Studies * The publications that are planned within this project will no doubt rekindle the interest of scholars and students of Islam in Islam's rich cultural, educational and historical legacy ... The work of the Ikhwan al-Safa, like many other works that make up the classical Muslim educational thought, need to be seriously studied and reflected upon. This new publication project contributes immensely towards realizing this educational aim. * Abdullah Sahin, Muslim World Book Review - about Epistles of the Brethren of Purity series *

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0199586527
• ISBN 13: 9780199586523
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 432