Avicenna on the Ontology of Pure Quiddity / Damien Janos.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Janos, Damien, Author.

Series:

Scientia Graeco-Arabica ; Band 26.

Scientia Graeco-Arabica ; 26

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Avicenna, 980-1037.

Avicenna.

History of Metaphysics.

Islamic Philosophy.

Islamische Philosophie.

Medieval Philosophy.

Philosophie des Mittelalters.

Wesen.

essence/quiddity.

Local Subjects:

Avicenna.

History of Metaphysics.

Islamic Philosophy.

Islamische Philosophie.

Medieval Philosophy.

Philosophie des Mittelalters.

Wesen.

essence/quiddity.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (XII, 762 p.)

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; Boston : De Gruyter, [2020]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

This study focuses on the metaphysics of the great Arabic philosopher Avicenna (or Ibn Sīnā, d. 1037 C.E.). More specifically, it delves into Avicenna’s theory of quiddity or essence, a topic which seized the attention of thinkers both during the medieval and modern periods. Building on recent contributions in Avicennian studies, this book proposes a new and comprehensive interpretation of Avicenna’s theory of ‘the pure quiddity’ (also known as ‘the quiddity in itself’) and of its ontology. The study provides a careful philological analysis of key passages gleaned from the primary sources in Arabic and a close philosophical contextualization of Avicenna’s doctrines in light of the legacy of ancient Greek philosophy in Islam and the early development of Arabic philosophy (falsafah) and theology (kalām). The study pays particular attention to how Avicenna’s theory of quiddity relates to the ancient Greek philosophical discussion about the universals or common things and Mu’tazilite ontology. Its main thesis is that Avicenna articulated a sophisticated doctrine of the ontology of essence in light of Greek and Bahshamite sources, which decisively shaped subsequent intellectual history in Islam and the Latin West.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Acknowledgements

Contents

Introduction

Chapter I: Pure Quiddity in Context

Chapter II: Quiddity in Itself and Mental Existence

Chapter III: Quiddity in Itself in the Concrete World

Chapter IV: The Special Ontological Mode of Quiddity in Itself

Chapter V: The Divine Origin of Pure Quiddity

Conclusion

Appendix 1: The Avicennian terminology of pure quiddity

Appendix 2: The existence of pure quiddity: A list of textual references

Appendix 3: Quiddity and Avicenna’s matrices of distinctions

Bibliography

Index of Names and Places

Index of Technical Terms

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 05. Mai 2020)

ISBN:

9783110651218

3110651211

9783110652086

3110652080

OCLC:

1153536376