The philosopher responds : an intellectual correspondence from the tenth century / by Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi, Abu 'Ali Miskawayh ; translated by Sophia Vasalou and James E. Montgomery ; foreword by Jonathan Rée ; volume editor, Devin J. Stewart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī, ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad, active 10th century, author.

Ibn Miskawayh, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad, -1030, author.

Contributor:

Stewart, Devin J., editor.

Vasalou, Sophia, translator.

Montgomery, James E. (James Edward), 1962- translator.

Rebecca Pepper Sinkler Fund.

Series:

Library of Arabic literature

Standardized Title:

Hawāmil wa-al-shawāmil. English

Language:

Arabic

English

Subjects (All):

Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī, ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad, active 10th century--Correspondence.

Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī, ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad.

Ibn Miskawayh, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad, -1030--Correspondence.

Ibn Miskawayh, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad.

Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī, ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad, active 10th century.

Ibn Miskawayh, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad, -1030.

Islamic philosophy--Early works to 1800.

Islamic philosophy.

Authors, Arab--To 1258--Correspondence.

Authors, Arab.

Philosophers--Iran--Correspondence.

Philosophers.

Iran.

Genre:

Early works.

Personal correspondence.

Correspondence.

Physical Description:

lvii, 388 pages : map (black and white) ; 22 cm.

Edition:

Paperback edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, [2021]

Language Note:

Includes material translated from Arabic.

Summary:

"Why is laughter contagious? Why do mountains exist? Why do we long for the past, even if it is scarred by suffering? Spanning a vast array of subjects that range from the philosophical to the theological, from the philological to the scientific, The Philosopher Responds is the record of a set of questions put by the litterateur Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī to the philosopher and historian Abu 'Ali Miskawayh. Both figures were foremost contributors to the remarkable flowering of cultural and intellectual life that took place in the Islamic world during the reign of the Buyid dynasty in the fourth/tenth century. The correspondence between al-Tawḥīdī and Miskawayh holds a mirror to many of the debates of the time and reflects the spirit of rationalistic inquiry that animated their era. It also provides insight into the intellectual outlooks of two thinkers who were divided as much by their distinctive temperaments as by the very different trajectories of their professional careers. Alternately whimsical and tragic, trivial and profound, al-Tawḥīdī 's questions provoke an interaction as interesting in its spiritedness as in its content." --Amazon.ca.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 358-365) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rebecca Pepper Sinkler Fund.

ISBN:

1479806358

9781479806355

OCLC:

1201179034