Ibn Tufayl : living the life of reason / Taneli Kukkonen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kukkonen, Taneli, author.

Series:

Makers of the Muslim world

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ibn Ṭufayl, Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd al-Malik, -1185.

Local Subjects:

Ibn Ṭufayl, Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd al-Malik, -1185.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xiv, 145 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

London, England : Oneworld, 2014.

Summary:

This Series is devoted to the men and women throughout his who have made a significant contribution to the political, intellectual and religious landscape of the Muslim world. Each title combines first-rate scholarship with a strong emphasis on readabilit introduction for lay readers and academics alike. Ibn Tufayl (d. 1185) was an Andalusian courtier, philosopher, Sufi master, and royal physician to the Almohad Caliphs. He inspired the twelfth-century Andalusian revolt against Ptolemaic astronomy and sponsored the career of the most renowned Aristotelian of medieval times, Abu al-Walid Ibn Rushd (the Latin Averroes). Ibn Tufayl was an exemplar of the kind of versatile scholar early Almohad culture wanted to cultivate. In this thought provoking and concise account, Taneli Kukkonen explores the life and thought of Ibn Tufayl and assesses the influence and legacy of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, Ibn Tufayl's famous philosophical romance. Hayy Ibn Yaqzan became a popular and often-copied work in early modern Europe; it has since secured a place as one of the best read pieces in all Arabic literature, partly due to its outstanding literary qualities, in part because it provides an ideal introduction to the themes and preoccupations of classical Arabic philosophy. The study sets Hayy in its historical and philosophical context and paints a vivid portrait of the world as Ibn Tufayl saw it and as he wished for it to be seen. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Life and Times 1

The Almohad Revolution 2

A New Intellectual Order 5

The Caves of Guadix 7

The Medical Tradition 8

In Royal Service 10

Sufi, Musicologist, Medical Author 12

Sponsor 14

2 HAYY 17

Hayy: A Synopsis 17

An Architectural Design 21

Hayy's Theme 23

Pointers and Reminders 24

The Spiral Path 27

Authority and Authentication 28

Harmony and Hierarchy 30

3 Island Life 33

The Island 34

The Perfect Climate 35

From Ceylon to Mali 36

The Twice-born Child 38

History or Drama 39

Seeing with One's Own Eyes 40

Beginning from the Beginning 42

Experience and Art 43

The Limits of Skill 46

4 Nature 49

Taking in the World 50

Structure and Scaffolding 51

Suspended between Worlds 53

Natures and Powers 53

Forms and Universals 56

Synthesis and Analysis 57

Matter 59

The Elements 61

The Heavenly Spheres 62

5 Soul 65

Living Nature 65

Vital Heat 66

The Vehicle of the Soul 68

The Spirit which is God's 70

Diffusion and Suffusion 73

Plurality and Unity 74

The Human Distinction 77

The Science of the Soul 77

6 Three Duties 79

Finitude and Transcendence 79

Two Worlds 83

Ought from Is 85

Three Lives 86

The Conservation Principle 88

Kinship with the Heavens 90

Leaving the World Behind 92

7 God 95

Unveiling the Mysteries 96

From Asceticism to Mysticism 97

Tasting the Truth 98

Theological Precepts 100

Like Knowing Like 103

Annihilation and Restoration 104

Faces and Names 106

The "Eastern Wisdom" 107

Sensation and Intellection 108

Arrival 109

8 Religion 111

Religion and Society 111

Asal and Salaman 114

Language and Reality 115

Modeling Perfection 118

Re-entering the Cave 119

Human Weakness 121

Morality and Scripture 122

Mortality and Revelation 124

9 Afterlife 127

Arabic Margins 127

Hebrew Echoes 129

Early Modern Success 130

The "Robinson" Question 132

Orientalist Ideas 134

Back to Ibn Tufavl 136.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 137-142) and index.

ISBN:

9781780745640

1780745648

OCLC:

903000608

Publisher Number:

99960779842