Scientia Graeco-Arabica

This book presents the first critical edition and translation into a European language of a text that has been largely overlooked by scholars: the Solution to the Doubts about Galen, by Abū al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Zuhr, a physician dwelling in twelfth-century al-Andalus. He composed it to defend Galen against Abū Bakr al-Rāzī's (d. 925) attacks in his Doubts about Galen (published in the same series). The Solution is of threefold interest: firstly, regarding Graeco-Arabic studies, it includes numerous testimonies of treatises by Galen of Pergamum (129–c. 216 CE) lost in Arabic, but also sometimes in Greek. The most famous of these lost texts is without a doubt Galen’s most important logical treatise, On Demonstration. The Solution is thereby a veritable goldmine for Graeco-Arabic studies and our reconstruction of the Arabic Galen. Secondly, even though Abū al-ʿAlāʾwas a physician more than he was a philosopher, his answers to Rāzī contribute to our understanding of the history of Islamicate philosophy: they provide access to several arguments circulating in the twelfth century on topics related to epistemology and natural philosophy, such as the existence of the void, for example. Finally, Abū al-ʿAlāʾ includes colorful - and pitiless -  comments on the medical milieu of his time. The book will be useful for students and scholars of ancient and medieval medicine and philosophy, as well as those engaged in the study of the classical world, Graeco-Arabic studies or Islamic studies.

The method of dialectic occupies an ambiguous yet central position in Islamic philosophy and the sciences. This study examines Aristotle's treatise dedicated to dialectic, his Topics, in the works of two influential thinkers of Arabic philosophy: al-Fārābī (d. 950-951 CE) and Avicenna (d. 1037 CE). The study aims to show the systematic place of dialectic (jadal in Arabic) in their works and its relationship to the method of scientific proof, ethics and political philosophy. As this study shows, both thinkers develop their key concepts and theories of dialectic in response to the Greek commentary tradition, in particular Alexander of Aphrodisias (c. 200 CE) and Themistius (d. c. 387 CE). In addition to the Greek commentators, theories of dialectical argumentation within the Islamic sciences also exerted a great influence on the authors studied. Philosophical dialectic was not least a rival project to the dialectic of theologians and legal scholars. This book is intended not only for those interested in Ancient and Arabic philosophy, but also in Islamic theology and jurisprudence.

Individuation presents a multifaceted problem within Avicenna’s philosophical system, appearing across various fields with multiple interpretations — whether as sets of quiddities, effects of causes or hylomorphic compounds. To address the occasional tensions between these different views, a contextual approach proves to be most effective, focusing on both external and internal perspectives, by studying individuals in light of the Greek philosophical tradition, Bahshamite theological teachings and the implications of Avicenna’s own system. 

This book provides a fresh, comprehensive analysis, demonstrating that Avicenna’s theory is coherent, with seemingly contradictory accounts complementing each other by offering different perspectives on the same individual.

Le traité d’Ibn Ṣāliḥ Sur les miroirs ardents paraboliques représente une contribution majeure à l’histoire de l’optique géométrique. Le présent ouvrage contient la première édition de ce texte, accompagnée d’une traduction française et d’un commentaire historique et mathématique.

L’intérêt principal du texte d’Ibn Ṣāliḥ consiste dans la manière originale dont il construit sa démarche catoptrique à partir des œuvres optiques et géométriques de la tradition. Partant des recherches d’Ibn al-Haytham (XI^e siècle) sur les miroirs paraboliques, il infléchit le traitement de ces objets dans deux directions nouvelles : tout d’abord, Ibn Ṣāliḥ traduit dans les termes de la géométrie d’Euclide des propriétés des coniques traitées par ses prédécesseurs arabes dans le style d’Apollonius ; en second lieu, il montre un intérêt technique pour la construction des miroirs, dont il fournit un véritable manuel à l’attention des architectes et des ingénieurs de l’entourage de Shāh Jahān.

Le présent ouvrage contient en outre la première édition d’un traité catoptrique anonyme conservé en Inde. Ces nouveaux matériaux permettent de documenter pour la première fois les développements remarquables de la catoptrique arabe au XVII^e siècle, ainsi que les avancées de la science islamique dans l’Inde moghole à l’époque de Shāh Jahān.

Galen’s On Demonstration (written c. 160 C.E.) was a tour de force of scientific methodology, loosely based on Aristotle’s (and Theophrastus’) Posterior Analytics and suited to the needs of a philosophically minded doctor. In its fifteen volumes, Galen outlined the theory of demonstration and the method of discovering premisses in natural-philosophical arguments, and rehearsed exemplary discussions to show how one should proceed when dealing with scientific problems. His polemics on issues in Aristotle’s physics attracted the attention of Alexander of Aphrodisias and the Greek Neoplatonists and made a significant impact on Arabic philosophy. On Demonstration is lost, but parts of it can be reconstructed from Greek and Arabic sources. This book is a collection of all available testimonia, some published for the first time. They are accompanied by notes, translation, and a substantive introduction that deals with the sources, the history of scholarship, the purpose, structure and contents of the treatise, and its Arabic reception. The book will be useful for students and scholars of ancient and medieval medicine and philosophy, as well as those engaged in the study of the classical world, Graeco-Arabic studies or Islamic studies.

From 8^th to 11^th century, many Greek texts have been translated into Arabic. These testimonia are of great interest for several research areas; e.g. for parts of Medieval Islamic sciences or rather their reception in different parts of Europe; for the history of textual transmission of the translated texts and for the lexicography of classical Arabic. This dictionary provides reliable and complete data on the Greek-Arabic equivalents.

From 8^th to 11^th century, many Greek texts have been translated into Arabic. These testimonia are of great interest for several research areas; e.g. for parts of Medieval Islamic sciences or rather their reception in different parts of Europe; for the history of textual transmission of the translated texts and for the lexicography of classical Arabic. This dictionary provides reliable and complete data on the Greek-Arabic equivalents.

The Islamic astronomical tradition greatly benefited from the many works produced in different ancient cultures, as well as the new empirical and theoretical approaches that led to advancements in various aspects of astronomy. Nevertheless, a significant portion of the history of this tradition, especially its formative period, was lost or remains undiscovered. Avicenna’s addendum to his recension of Ptolemy’s Almagest, which he incorporated into his main philosophical summa, Kitāb al-Shifāʾ, helps recover parts of this otherwise lost history. In the addendum, Avicenna took a historiographical approach and reported the developments in the science of astronomy that occurred from Ptolemy’s time until his own. As such, the treatise also sheds light on the sources that were possibly available to Avicenna. However, because Avicenna did not explicitly indicate his sources, and because the text’s structure is complex and language condensed, analyzing the treatise is a rather challenging task. The present monograph offers a critical edition of Avicenna’s addendum, complete with an English translation and commentary, to assist readers in better understanding and appreciating this valuable contribution to the history of Islamic astronomy.

In how many ways can things be said to be one, how is oneness itself to be defined, and what is its relation to essence and existence? This book engages with these core questions by examining the works of Avicenna (d. 1037 CE), who is widely regarded as the most important philosopher of the Arabic tradition.

In this monograph - the first that is exclusively devoted to Avicenna’s henology and to Arabic henology in general - the author analyzes the place and meaning of oneness in Avicenna’s general metaphysics and theology and devotes particular attention to how this notion relates to Avicenna’s theory of quiddity. He contextualizes Avicenna’s doctrines in light of three major intellectual currents (ancient Greek philosophy, early Arabic philosophy, and Islamic theology or kalām) and also offers the first detailed analysis of oneness in the Bahshamite tradition.

The book challenges the prevailing interpretation of Avicenna’s henology and adduces new textual evidence to show that Avicenna developed an innovative theory of oneness that expresses the essential reality and self-identity of a thing. This foundational sense of oneness is applied to all the pure quiddities and, in an eminent and prior way, to God.

This study tracks the progress of Suhrawardī’s philosophy focusing on his critique of the axial doctrine of the categories and topics related to it: predication and hylomorphism. While it’s known that he rejected hylomorphism and reduced the categories into five, it’s not known how and in which context he has achieved his positions. This is a philosophical study with an eye on the history of concepts. Each chapter detects the historical development from Aristotle through his commentators to Avicenna and critical Avicennans, and then to Suhrawardī.

Suhrawardī discerns two diverging projects in the Categories: An ontological project of the ten highest genera of being, and a project of predication embodied in Aristotle’s predicative square. He discusses the latter in the Isagoge, whereas the former is discussed and reduced to five (substance, quality, quantity, relation, motion) in metaphysics. He also shifts hylomorphism from metaphysics – its Avicennan locus – to physics. Perhaps for this reason scholars never paid attention to his proper texts for the theory of body and confined themselves with the polemics of Ḥikmat al-išrāq. This is the first study of physics and general metaphysics of al-Talwīḥāt, al-Mašāriʿ, and al-Muqāwamāt.

Alexander’s essay on the conversion of predicative propositions contains otherwise unknown information about the early history of Aristotle’s logic. The essay survives only in a mutilated Arabic translation. This volume contains a new edition of the text, a translation (the first into any modern language), and a discursive commentary. It will be of interest to anyone concerned with the history of Aristotelianism or with the history of logic.

"The world is a finite body, and therefore has finite power." John Philoponus is remembered for using this Aristotelian premise to break ranks with Aristotle and argue that the world is not everlasting. This investigation reconsiders Philoponus’s arguments from finite power, and then explores the aftermath of this line of thinking in the works of three lesser-known Arabic intellectuals active in the generation before Avicenna (d. 1037): Abū l-Ḫayr Ibn Suwār (d. after 1017), Abū al-Ḥasan al-ʿĀmirī (d. 992), and Abū Sahl al-Masīḥī (d. after 1025). Each engaged with this dictum in unique and novel ways, and in so doing anticipated a number of central features of Avicenna’s writings. The history of this argument is of crucial importance for understanding the evolution of natural philosophy and metaphysics in this formative period, away from tedious and simplistic arguments about creation and towards a more robust modal ontology based on intrinsic and extrinsic necessity.

The texts in these four volumes deal with the history and philosophy of mathematics and its applications. The first three volumes are devoted to the history of mathematics (arithmetic, algebra, geometry), optics and astronomy, from Antiquity to the Classical Age. Over the last fifty years, the numerous studies contained in this volume have renewed the study of the main Greek mathematicians - Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius, Diophantus, Menelaus - and have shown the nature and scope of their reception and transformations, both in classical Islam and in early European modernity. The fourth volume establishes and explores various fields of research between philosophy and mathematics, from the polymorphous interactions specific to Greek, Arab and Latin science to the mathematisation of the social sciences in the eighteenth century. Both in terms of the novelty of the material discovered and published for the first time and the power and finesse that continue to guide its epistemological analysis, the dozens of contributions collected here represent a major work that has changed the history of science in our time.

The texts in these four volumes deal with the history and philosophy of mathematics and its applications. The first three volumes are devoted to the history of mathematics (arithmetic, algebra, geometry), optics and astronomy, from Antiquity to the Classical Age. Over the last fifty years, the numerous studies contained in this volume have renewed the study of the main Greek mathematicians - Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius, Diophantus, Menelaus - and have shown the nature and scope of their reception and transformations, both in classical Islam and in early European modernity. The fourth volume establishes and explores various fields of research between philosophy and mathematics, from the polymorphous interactions specific to Greek, Arab and Latin science to the mathematisation of the social sciences in the eighteenth century. Both in terms of the novelty of the material discovered and published for the first time and the power and finesse that continue to guide its epistemological analysis, the dozens of contributions collected here represent a major work that has changed the history of science in our time.

The texts in these four volumes deal with the history and philosophy of mathematics and its applications. The first three volumes are devoted to the history of mathematics (arithmetic, algebra, geometry), optics and astronomy, from Antiquity to the Classical Age. Over the last fifty years, the numerous studies contained in this volume have renewed the study of the main Greek mathematicians - Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius, Diophantus, Menelaus - and have shown the nature and scope of their reception and transformations, both in classical Islam and in early European modernity. The fourth volume establishes and explores various fields of research between philosophy and mathematics, from the polymorphous interactions specific to Greek, Arab and Latin science to the mathematisation of the social sciences in the eighteenth century. Both in terms of the novelty of the material discovered and published for the first time and the power and finesse that continue to guide its epistemological analysis, the dozens of contributions collected here represent a major work that has changed the history of science in our time.

The texts in these four volumes deal with the history and philosophy of mathematics and its applications. The first three volumes are devoted to the history of mathematics (arithmetic, algebra, geometry), optics and astronomy, from Antiquity to the Classical Age. Over the last fifty years, the numerous studies contained in this volume have renewed the study of the main Greek mathematicians - Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius, Diophantus, Menelaus - and have shown the nature and scope of their reception and transformations, both in classical Islam and in early European modernity. The fourth volume establishes and explores various fields of research between philosophy and mathematics, from the polymorphous interactions specific to Greek, Arab and Latin science to the mathematisation of the social sciences in the eighteenth century. Both in terms of the novelty of the material discovered and published for the first time and the power and finesse that continue to guide its epistemological analysis, the dozens of contributions collected here represent a major work that has changed the history of science in our time.

Al-Sijzī was a mathematician of the second half of the tenth century, a particularly fertile period for the history and philosophy of mathematics. He occupies a central place in a generation that, in particular, succeeded in renewing the methods of geometry and opening up new avenues of research in this field.

This book contains a critical edition of several of his writings on plane and solid geometry, thus enriching research in the history and philosophy of mathematics.

Al-Sijzī endeavours to identify the laws of geometry and, through a commentary on Euclid's books, to explain its principles. In the course of this work to elucidate the laws and concepts of the discipline, he also devoted essays to teaching, and others to the theory of demonstration. In addition, he kept up a rich correspondence with contemporary mathematicians, a living illustration of the mathematical research of his time.

The Syriac treatise published in the present volume is in many respects a unique text. Though it has been preserved anonymously, there remains little doubt that it belongs to Porphyry of Tyre. Accordingly, it enlarges our knowledge of the views of the most famous disciple of Plotinus. The text is an important witness to Platonist discussions on First Principles and on Plato’s concept of Prime Matter in the Timaeus. It contains extensive quotations from Atticus, Severus, and Boethus. This text thus provides us with new textual witnesses to these philosophers, whose legacy remains very poorly attested and little known. Additionally, the treatise is a rare example of a Platonist work preserved in the Syriac language. The Syriac reception of Plato and Platonic teachings has left rather sparse textual traces, and the question of what precisely Syriac Christians knew about Plato and his philosophy remains a debated issue. The treatise provides evidence for the close acquaintance of Syriac scholars with Platonic cosmology and with philosophical commentaries on Plato’s Timaeus.

This book contains an edition and annotated translation of the remaining fragments of a maqālāt treatise written by Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Qalānisī at the end of the 3^rd/9^th or beginning of the 4^th/10^th c. Unlike al-Balḫī and al-Ašʿarī, the two main authors of maqālāt from the same period, al-Qalānisī is a theologian who was never part of Muʿtazili circles but rather belongs to Ibn Kullāb’s school that aims to defend Sunni doctrines by the use of the dialectical method. These are the only remaining fragments of the great albeit little-known theologian who probably never left the city of Rayy. They reflect his intellectual agenda of integrating the traditionnist milieux in the main theological debates of the 3^rd/9^th c. The history he writes of early kalām differs from that of the Muʿtazilis and the Hanbalis, who both agree that theologians and traditionnists are two mutually exclusive professions. Through the category of «　traditionnists theologians　» which appears for the first time in these fragments, al-Qalānisī takes part with al-Ašʿarī in the great synthesis of the 4^th/10^th c. However, despite all their similarities, their two historiographical projects differ greatly one from another. The study preceding the edition sheds a new light on the strategy of al-Qalānisī in order to explain the reasons behind the success of al-Ašʿarī whose school relegated this early and flourishing period of Sunni kalām in the margins of orthodoxy.

Après qu'al-Khwarizmi eut rédigé son livre fondateur de l'algèbre au début du IXe siècle, les recherches algébriques se sont rapidement développées et enrichies, avant de se scinder et de se concentrer en deux principaux courants: l'algèbre arithmétique, l'analyse indéterminée et la théorie des nombres d'une part, la géométrie algébrique élémentaire d'autre part. C'est à partir des travaux du premier courant qu'al-Samaw'al (mort en 1175) rédige le premier traité en algèbre arithmétique: "Le Brillant en Algèbre", al-Bāhir fī al-Jabr. On trouvera ici l'édition critique de cet ouvrage fondamental, sa traduction en français, ainsi que son commentaire mathématique et historique. Le présent livre est important non seulement pour comprendre l'histoire de l'algèbre en arabe, mais aussi celle de l'algèbre latine à partir de Leonardo Pisano et, plus généralement, l'histoire des mathématiques classiques .

This book offers a new edition, with English translation and commentary, of the Kitāb al-Madḫal, which opens Avicenna’s (d. 1037) most comprehensive summa of Peripatetic philosophy, namely the Kitāb al-Šifāʾ. For the first time, the text is established together with a stemma codicum showing the genealogical relations among 34 manuscripts, the twelfth-century Latin translation, and the literal quotations by Avicenna’s first and second-generation students. In this book, Avicenna’s reappraisal of Porphyry’s Isagoge is examined from both a historical and a philosophical point of view. The key-features of Avicenna’s theory of predicables are analyzed in the General Introduction and in the Commentary both in their own right and against the background of the Greek and Arabic exegetical tradition. Readers shall find in this book the first systematic study of the Madḫal which, in addition to being the only logical work of the Šifāʾ ever transmitted in its entirety both in Arabic and in Latin, is crucial for understanding Avicenna’s conception of universal predicables at the crossroads between logic and metaphysics.

Aristotle's theory of eternal continuous motion and his argument from everlasting change and motion to the existence of an unmoved primary cause of motion, provided in book VIII of his Physics, is one of the most influential and persistent doctrines of ancient Greek philosophy. Nevertheless, the exact wording of Aristotle's discourse is doubtful and contentious at many places. The present critical edition of Ishaq ibn Hunayn's Arabic translation (9th c.) is supposed to replace the faulty edition by A. Badawi and aims at contributing to the clarification of these textual difficulties by means of a detailed collation of the Arabic text with the most important Greek manuscripts, supported by comprehensive Greek and Arabic glossaries.

Ibn Bāğğa’s commentary on Aristotle’s On Generation and Corruption (Kitāb al-Kawn wa-l-fasād, Latin De generatione et corruptione) is one of the first commentaries to elaborate on the essential aspect of Aristotle’s text, that is, the analysis of change (μεταβολή, taġayyur). The commentary’s extant parts comprise a consecutive exposition of the contents of Aristotle’s work. However, the commentary may be read more as an introduction or a guide to the topic of generation than as a substitution for the original, as the paraphrases by Averroes seem to have become in the later tradition. The present study provides a new critical edition of the Arabic text and, for the first time, an English translation and a study of the structure of the commentary on the basis of the only two known manuscripts.

This book offers for the first time a comprehensive study of the reception and reworking of the Peripatetic theory of the soul in the Kitāb al-Nafs (Book of the Soul) by Avicenna (d. 1037). This study seeks to frame Avicenna’s science of the soul (or psychology) by focusing on three key concepts: subject, definition, and activity. The examination of these concepts will disclose the twofold consideration of the soul in Avicenna’s psychology. Besides the ‘general approach’ to the soul of sublunary living beings, which is the formal principle of the body, Avicenna’s psychology also exhibits a ‘specific orientation’ towards the soul in itself, i.e. the human rational soul that, considered in isolation from the body, is a self-subsistent substance, identical with the theoretical intellect and capable of surviving severance from the body. These two investigations demonstrate the coexistence in Avicenna’s psychology of a more specific and less physical science (psychologia specialis) within a more general and overall physical one (psychologia generalis).

Menelaus of Alexandria (1st century CE) is the author of the treatise Sphaerica and as of a treatise on fluid statics. Both of these works only survive in Arabic translations. This book provides an editio princeps of Menelaus’s second text as well as the recently discovered commentary thereon, written by the philosopher and scholar Muhammad ibn al-Haytham (10th–11th century).

Ménélaüs d’Alexandrie (Ier siècle de notre ère) est l’auteur du traité Des figures sphériques et d’un traité de statique des fluides. Ces deux œuvres nous sont parvenues seulement en traduction arabe. On trouvera dans le présent livre une editio princeps du second texte de Ménélaüs, ainsi que le commentaire nouvellement découvert du philosophe et savant Muḥammad ibn al-Haytham (Xe–XIe siècle) à ce dernier.

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.

This book provides a critical edition as well as a French translation of the Doubts About Galen, a polemical treatise written by Abū Bakr al-Rāzī, one of the most innovative clinicians and philosophers of the Arabo-Islamic Middle Ages. His Doubts stand at the cross-roads of metaphysics, natural philosophy and medicine. The edition includes a comprehensive introduction which discusses the treatise’ most significant philosophical features.

Die Tabulae Vindobonenses und Summaria Alexandrinorum sind Unterrichtswerke aus dem spätantiken Alexandria (5.-7. Jh.). Diese Werke waren als Ergänzung zu den Vorlesungen der alexandrinischen Medizinlehrer gedacht. Sie enthalten zentrale Inhalte aus den Schriften des Lehrplanautors Galen von Pergamon in Form von Begriffsunterteilungen (Dihairesen). Thema der vorliegenden Untersuchung sind die Abschnitte, die sich mit Galens Schrift De sectis (Über die medizinischen Gruppen) beschäftigen. Sie werden ediert, ins Deutsche übersetzt und in den Unterrichtskontext eingebettet.
In der Studie werden nicht nur Texte erschlossen, die in der modernen Forschung bisher so gut wie keine Beachtung gefunden haben, sondern auch völlig neue Erkenntnisse über den Aufbau und die Didaktik des alexandrinischen Medizinunterrichtes erzielt. Sie kann außerdem als Ausgangspunkt für weitergehende Forschung über die Auswirkung dieser Lehrwerke dienen. So wurden sie im 9. Jh. ins Arabische übersetzt, wo sie das Genre der „Summaria“ (Zusammenfassungen) begründeten und die Dihairesen als Darstellungsweise etablierten, die über lateinische Übersetzungen wiederum in den Westen gelangte und hier im Prinzip bis in die Moderne fortwirkt.

Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā) greatly influenced later medieval thinking about the earth and the cosmos, not only in his own civilization, but also in Hebrew and Latin cultures. The studies presented in this volume discuss the reception of prominent theories by Avicenna from the early 11th century onwards by thinkers like Averroes, Fahraddin ar-Razi, Samuel ibn Tibbon or Albertus Magnus. Among the topics which receive particular attention are the definition and existence of motion and time. Other important topics are covered too, such as Avicenna’s theories of vacuum, causality, elements, substantial change, minerals, floods and mountains. It emerges, among other things, that Avicenna inherited to the discussion an acute sense for the epistemological status of natural science and for the mental and concrete existence of its objects. The volume also addresses the philological and historical circumstances of the textual tradition and sheds light on the translators Dominicus Gundisalvi, Avendauth and Alfred of Sareshel in particular.
The articles of this volume are presented by scholars who convened in 2013 to discuss their research on the influence of Avicenna’s physics and cosmology in the Villa Vigoni, Italy.

In Predication and Ontology A. Kalbarczyk provides the first monograph-length study of the Arabic reception of Aristotle’s Categories. At the center of attention is the critical reappraisal of that treatise by Ibn Sīnā (d. 428 AH/1037 AD), better known in the Latin West as Avicenna. Ibn Sīnā’s reading of the Categories is examined in the context of his wider project of rearranging the transmitted body of philosophical knowledge. Against the background of the late ancient commentary tradition and subsequent exegetical efforts, Ibn Sīnā’s Kitāb al-Maqūlāt of the Šifāʾ is interpreted as a milestone in the gradual reshuffle of the relationship between logic proper and ontology. In order to assess the philosophical impact of this realignment, some of the subsequent developments in Ibn Sīnā’s writings and in the emerging post-Avicennian tradition are also taken into account. The thematic focus lies on the two fundamental classification schemes which Aristotle introduces in the treatise: the fourfold division of Cat. 2 ("of a subject"/"in a subject") and the tenfold scheme of Cat. 4 (i.e., substance and the nine genera of accidents). They both pose the question of whether and how the manner in which an expression is predicated relates to extra-linguistic reality. As the study intends to show, this question is one of the driving forces of Ibn Sīnā’s momentous reform of the Aristotelian curriculum.

This monograph has been awarded the Iran World Award for Book of the Year (2020).

Despite its importance in the history of Ancient science, Menelaus’ Spherics is still by and large unknown. This treatise, which lies at the foundation of spherical geometry, is lost in Greek but has been preserved in its Arabic versions. The reader will find here, for the first time edited and translated into English, the essentials of this tradition, namely: a fragment of an early Arabic translation and the first Arabic redaction of the Spherics composed by al-Māhānī /al-Harawī, together with a historical and mathematical study of Menelaus’ treatise. With this book, a new and important part of the Greek and Arabic legacy to the history of mathematics comes to light. This book will be an indispensable acquisition for any reader interested in the history of Ancient geometry and science and, more generally, in Greek and Arabic science and culture.

This study is the first comprehensive analysis of the physical theory of the Islamic philosopher Avicenna (d. 1037). It seeks to understand his contribution against the developments within the preceding Greek and Arabic intellectual milieus, and to appreciate his philosophy as such by emphasising his independence as a critical and systematic thinker. Exploring Avicenna’s method of "teaching and learning," it investigates the implications of his account of the natural body as a three-dimensionally extended composite of matter and form, and examines his views on nature as a principle of motion and his analysis of its relation to soul. Moreover, it demonstrates how Avicenna defends the Aristotelian conception of place against the strident criticism of his predecessors, among other things, by disproving the existence of void and space. Finally, it sheds new light on Avicenna’s account of the essence and the existence of time. For the first time taking into account the entire range of Avicenna’s major writings, this study fills a gap in our understanding both of the history of natural philosophy in general and of the philosophy of Avicenna in particular.

This monograph has been awarded the annual BRAIS – De Gruyter Prize (Kulturpreis Bayern) in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World and the Iran World Award for Book of the Year (2020).

This book contains a new edition and English translation of the oldest commentary on Aristotle written in Arabic and preserved to this day, together with an extensive commentary. It is a compendium on the treatise De generatione et corruptione, written by the Imamite theologian and heresiographer Hasan b. Mūsā al-Nawbakhtī (fl. ca. 900). To this day, apart from the title of more than forty works and numerous fragments-taken mainly from his magnum opus, the Book of the Doctrines and Religions (Kitāb al-ārā’ wa-al-diyānāt)-only a single treatise of his, the Book of Shî’î Sects (Kitâb firaq al-shî’a), was known to us. The text sheds new light in several ways: firstly, on the the Arabic philosophical tradition, since it was composed during the obscure period between al-Kindī and al-Fārābī (roughly, the 2^nd half of the 9^th c.); secondly, on the Greek tradition, since the author makes extensive use of Alexander’s lost commentary on De generatione; thirdly, on the formative period of shī’ism, since it helps us to reconstruct how the author borrowed from the Aristotelian tradition the tools necessary to build up a new anthropology compatible with the doctrine of the Occultation which he inaugurated at the time.

Ce livre constitue la première étude du rôle de la génération dans les systèmes philosophiques d’Aristote et d’Averroès (1126-1198). En s’appuyant sur de nombreux textes traduits du grec, de l’arabe et du latin, l’auteur propose une nouvelle lecture de la théorie aristotélicienne de la génération, ainsi qu’une interprétation de son renouvellement par le Commentateur. Les traités majeurs consacrés par Averroès à la physique générale, à la théorie des éléments et à la biologie d’Aristote sont, pour la première fois, examinés dans leur rapport mutuel et dans celui qu’ils entretiennent à la métaphysique. Cette étude transversale révèle les nouveaux enjeux philosophiques et épistémologiques au fondement du système d’Averroès : dans la lignée de l’aristotélisme essentialiste d’Alexandre d’Aphrodise et tout en réfutant la doctrine créationniste de certains théologiens de l’Islam, le philosophe cordouan établit le fondement a posteriori de tout savoir humain. La philosophie d’Averroès est ainsi réinterprétée comme un jalon fondamental d’une histoire qui, du monde grec à la modernité, scelle le destin commun de la philosophie naturelle et de la métaphysique.

Ce livre constitue la première étude consacrée à la théorie de la génération d’Aristote et à son renouvellement par Averroès (1126-1198). Pour la première fois, les traités majeurs consacrés par Averroès à la physique générale, à la théorie des éléments et à la biologie d’Aristote sont examinés dans leur rapport mutuel et dans celui qu’ils entretiennent à la métaphysique.

From Antiquity until recently, philosophers and mathematicians have continually discussed the concept of angle and its relation to archimedean and non-archimedean theories of measurement. For the first time, this book traces the history of these discussions in Greek and Arabic, from Euclid to Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī, after whom the discussion was not resumed until Newton and Euler. The volume presents first editions of over twenty texts, either in Arabic or Greek and translated into Arabic, of the greatest mathematicians and philosophers of the time. The texts are here translated into French and supplemented with extensive commentary. The book begins with the definitions and propositions of Euclid on angles and measurement, followed by the Greek commentary tradition represented by Proclus and Simplicius (only extant in Arabic) and the writings of the Arabic mathematicians and philosophers from the 9th through 14th century, placing the fundamental contributions by Avicenna and Ibn al-Haytham into their historical context and showing how numerous successors produced new syntheses of their work.

Cet ouvrage fournit la première étude de référence consacrée à l'histoire du concept d'angle (angle rectiligne, angle curviligne, angle de contingence, angle solide) d'Euclide aux mathématiques arabes classiques. Il comprend l'édition critique, la traduction et le commentaire d'écrits de mathématiciens et de philosophes grecs et arabes, tels qu'Euclide, Simplicius, al-Nayr?z?, Avicenne, Ibn a-Haytham, al-Tusi, al-Shirazi, al-Farisi.

There has been a lack of scholarly attention to Arabic translations of ancient works on agriculture. The reconstruction of the Arabic tradition offered by the Prolegomena volume illustrates the importance of these translations in Arabic agricultural literature and enables better understanding of the genesis of the Byzantine Geoponika. Therefore, this introduction will be useful for classics scholars and orientalists.

No area of Arab scholarship was as greatly influenced by the Ancient Greek heritage as medicine and the natural sciences. This volume contains selected essays by Manfred Ullmann, whose depth and clarity have made them essential reference points for scholarly debate about the key personalities, texts, and subjects of this great intercultural movement.

One of Averroes' (Ibn Rushd) earliest works is dedicated to law. The work comprises a summary of al-Ghazali's work on legal theory called al-Mustasfa min 'ilm al-usul. This volume presents a new edition of the Arabic text accompanied by a French translation and commentary. The edition is preceded by a study that draws attention to the main points of difference between the two philosophers.

L'un des premiers traités d'Averroès est consacré au droit. Il s'agit d'un abrégé de la somme de théorie juridique d'al-Ghazāli, al-Mustasfā min 'ilm al-usūl. Cette nouvelle édition du texte est accompagnée d'une traduction française et d'un commentaire qui replace les arguments dans leur tradition doctrinale, celle de la théorie juridique véhiculée par le Mustasfā, l'un des traités les plus marquants de cette discipline.

The present study relies on a greatly improved re-edited text of Ibn Bagga’s (d. 1139) commentary on De anima, Kitab al-nafs. Here, the author shows that in keeping with the Aristotelian model, Ibn Bagga conceptualizes psychology as a natural science, but at the same time, ultimately turns his understanding of natural science into fundamental science.

This is the first study of the history of Diophantine analysis and the theory of numbers from Abū Kāmil to Fermat (9^th-17^th century). It thus offers an elaborate and detailed overview on a fundamental chapter on classical mathematical thought and its relation to algebra and Diophantus’ Arithmetica.

Cet ouvrage fournit la première étude de référence consacrée à l’histoire de l’analyse indéterminée (diophantienne) et de la théorie des nombres d’Abū Kāmil à Fermat, soit du IXème au XVIIème siècle. Il offre ainsi une compréhension plus informée et plus fine sur un chapitre fondamental des mathématiques classiques et sur ses relations avec l’algèbre et les Arithmétiques de Diophante.

Until recently, only six of thirteen books comprising Diophantus’ Arithmetica were known to us. Four other books in an Arabic translation have been discovered recently. We can now understand the organization of this work and its long-lasting impact on mathematics. The present book offers the first historical and mathematical study of the work as it has survived in ten books.

Jusqu’à une date récente, on ne connaissait que six des treize livres que comprenaient les Arithmétiques de Diophante. Quatre livres supplémentaires ont été récemment découverts en traduction arabe. Nous sommes donc maintenant en mesure de comprendre l’organisation de l’ouvrage et son impact sur un millénaire et demi de recherche mathématique. Le présent livre offre la première étude historique et mathématique de l’ensemble des dix livres.

This book is an essay - with an annotated translation - about the psychology of Averroes, Aristotle’s Commentator, and its influence in Latin philosophy. It specifically addresses his famous doctrine of the intellect, long deemed scandalous, and its critical defence by one of his epigones, the English XIVth century theologian Thomas Wylton, also descended from the great scholastics Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus. On new textual bases, the author tackles some of the main noetic questions of Greco-Arabic peripateticism: the relation between soul and body, the status of imagination, the nature of the intellect’s power, the autonomy of the thinker, or the theoretical accomplishment of the individual as conjunction with the “agent” intellect. The author argues that Wylton’s averroism is a conceptually consistent exegesis, an indiosynchratic combination of various elements found in Ibn Rushd’s system, while also, against a depreciatory tradition, contextualizing Averroes and his doctrine in relation to the active field of modern philosophy, within an identical rationality.

Le livre est un essai - accompagné d’une traduction - qui porte sur la psychologie d’Averroès et sa reprise dans le monde latin. Il concerne sa célèbre doctrine de l’intellect, et la défense critique qu’en fit l’un de ses épigones: le théologien anglais du XIVe siècle Thomas Wylton. On y étudie les questions majeures du mind-body problem: le rapport de l’âme et du corps, le statut de l’imagination, la nature de la puissance intellective, l’autonomie du sujet de la pensée, etc.

The Hippocratic Epidemics and Galen’s Commentary on them constitute milestones in the development of clinical medicine. But they also illustrate the rich exegetical traditions that existed in the post-classical Greek world. The present volume investigates these texts from various and diverse vantage points: textual criticism; Greek philology; knowledge transfer through translations; and medical history. Especially the Syriac and Arabic traditions of the Epidemics come under scrutiny.

Avicenna’s Metaphysics (in Arabic: Ilâhiyyât) is the most important and influential metaphysical treatise of classical and medieval times after Aristotle. This volume presents studies on its direct and indirect influence in Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin culture from the time of its composition in the early eleventh century until the sixteenth century. Among the philosophical topics which receive particular attention are the distinction between essence and existence, the theory of universals, the concept of God as the necessary being and the theory of emanation. It is shown how authors such as Averroes, Abraham ibn Daud, Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus react to Avicenna’s metaphysical theories. The studies also address the philological and historical circumstances of the textual tradition in three different medieval cultures. The studies are written by a distinguished international team of contributors, who convened in 2008 to discuss their research in the Villa Vigoni, Italy.

The influence of the Platonic theory of forms is to be found in nearly all periods in the history of Western philosophy. Much less well known is the fact that in all ages Arabic philosophers also discussed “Platonic forms” in their written works, although they had no access to Plato’s Dialogues. This study analyses how this conception was given doctrinal content without recourse to Plato’s works, and presents the relevant Arabic works in German translation for the first time. They offer a first insight into a branch of the reception of Platonism that has not yet been researched, but which is often clearly influenced by Islam.

This book contains the first English translation of Abūl-Walīd Ibn Rushd's (Averroes') so-called Epitome of Aristotle's Metaphysics . The original Arabic text was composed around 1160 as a sort of appendix to a series of compendia of Aristotle's works on natural philosophy by the famous Andalusian philosopher. The two most interesting things about this work are the fact that Averroes restructures here the Aristotelian text according to his own conception of metaphysics, as opposed to his great literal commentary which follows the order of the Metaphysics section by section, and that he constantly revised this work over more than three decades. The present translation is based on a wide range of documents including, apart from the available Arabic editions, a number of medieval Arabic manuscripts not taken into consideration in these editions as well as the Renaissance translation into Latin prepared by Jacob Mantinus. It is accompanied by a commentary dealing with the major philosophical topics, Averroes' sources and problems of the transmission and constitution of the text. In addition, the most important variant readings of the manuscripts are noted in footnotes underneath the translation.

Thabit ibn Qurra (826–901) was one of history’s most original thinkers and displayed expertise in the most difficult disciplines of this time: geometry, number theory, and astronomy as well as ontology, physics, and metaphysics.
Approximately a dozen of this shorter mathematical and philosophical writings are collected in this volume. Critically edited with accompanying commentary, these writings show how Thabit Ibn Qurra developed and reconceived the intellectual inheritance of ancient Greece in all areas of knowledge.

Thabit ibn Qurra est l'un des esprits les plus originaux de tous les temps. On lui doit le premier dépassement de Ptolémée en astronomie et la première critique radicale de l'ontologie aristotélicienne au nom de l'idéalisme mathématique. Au vu de son importance historique, il était urgent de publier ses œuvres encore inédites, ou non éditées de manière critique, et de les étudier de manière véritablement historique.
On trouvera, dans cet ouvrage, l'édition, la traduction et le commentaire d'une douzaine de ses opuscules mathématiques et philosophiques, éclairant différentes facettes de son génie universel.

Eutocius of Ascalon (4th cent. AD) accompanied his edition of the first four books of Apollonius of Perga's Konika with a commentary. His work is relevant to the history of conic sections and important for the textual transmission of Apollonius. This new critical edition contains the first translation into a modern language and complements the Graeco-Arabic edition of the first four books of the Konika (SGA 1-2).

Eutocius d’Ascalon (VIe siècle ap. J.-C.) a accompagné son édition des
Coniques d’Apollonius de Perge d’un commentaire. Cet ouvrage est essentiel
pour l’histoire du texte des Coniques et pour la connaissance des techniques
éditoriales antiques. Cette nouvelle édition critique contient la première
traduction du commentaire dans une langue moderne.

The treatise De Rationis Sectione by Apollonius of Perge, which deals with a unique and difficult problem, is a remarkable, complex example of the study of the necessary pre-conditions for the existence of a solution. This volume presents the editio princeps of the text, which has only survived in an Arabic version. It is made accessible in the form of a French translation and a commentary that reveals the mechanisms of Apollonius’ difficult proof, and draws particular attention to its conceptual innovations.

Cet ouvrage propose l’editio princeps, la traduction française et un commentaire de la version arabe anonyme – seule conservée – du traité sur la Section de rapport d’Apollonius. La connaissance de ce texte qui éclaire d’un jour nouveau le problème de l’analyse dans les mathématiques gréco-hellénistiques ne reposait jusqu’à ce jour que sur la traduction latine approximative due à Halley (Oxford, 1706). Apollonius y est en effet conduit à rechercher les valeurs extrémales d’un rapport et à étudier les variations de ce rapport sur divers intervalles, réflexions et méthodes sans équivalent dans le monde grec. L'édition critique du texte est faite à partir des deux seuls manuscrits qui nous sont parvenus. La traduction est suivie d'un index terminologique donnant la traduction française des termes mathématiques arabes (avec le terme grec correspondant lorsque faire se peut) et de notes philologiques. Cet ouvrage a sa place dans toute bibliothèque de philologie classique, d’islamologie, de philosophie des sciences et d’histoire des mathématiques.

Book VI of the Konika is essentially devoted to the question of the identity and similarity of two conic sections, or two parts of conic sections. In Book VII Apollonius deals with the various relationships between the lengths of diameters and conjugate diameters. The results are applied to the exposition of a number of problems, as well as to some problems which Apollonius indicates will be demonstrated and solved in Book VIII, which was lost in Antiquity. Books VI and VII have only survived in an Arabic translation, and are presented here in a critical edition, together with a faithful translation and a historical-mathematical commentary.

Le livre VI des Coniques est consacré essentiellement à l’étude de l’égalité et de la similitude de deux sections coniques, ou de deux parties de sections coniques. Au livre VII, Apollonius établit de nombreuses relations entre longueurs des diamètres, de leurs diamètres conjugués et des côtés droits qui leur sont associés, ainsi que de nombreuses relations métriques, toutes utiles aux diorismes multiples et en particulier aux problèmes «résolus et démontrés» au livre VIII, perdu dès l’Antiquité. Ces deux livres n’ont survécu que dans la traduction arabe. On en trouvera ici une édition véritablement critique, une traduction rigoureuse ainsi qu’un commentaire historique et mathématique.

With the fifth book of the Konika ancient mathematics reached a climax. In it Apollonius presents the first known theory of the maxima and minima lines, which was taken up again by mathematicians in the early 10th century, and above all in the 17th century. As is the case for books 6 and 7, the original Greek text of this book is lost, and it is only known from an Arabic translation made in Baghdad in the 9th century.

This volume presents the reader with a truly critical edition of the fifth book of Apollonius’ Konika, an exact translation that follows the original wording closely, as well as a broad and detailed historical and mathematical commentary, as befits the edition of such an important text.

Le livre V des Coniques est l’un des sommets des mathématiques anciennes et classiques. Perdu en grec, il est seulement connu dans sa traduction arabe. Il comprend une théorie des lignes maximales et minimales ainsi que des normales. Ce livre n’a cessé d'intéresser les mathématiciens et les historiens, depuis sa redécouverte au IX^e siècle à Bagdad jusqu’aux lecteurs de ses traductions arabo-latines aux XVI^e-XVII^e siècles. C’est pour cette raison qu’un volume entier lui est consacré. On y trouve une édition véritablement critique, une traduction fidèle et une commentaire historique et mathématique exhaustif.

Volume 2.3, containing the Greek translations of books II-IV, completes the edition of the Conica of Apollonius of Perga. It is arranged according to the same principle as the previous volume on book I: the critical edition of the Greek text is accompanied by numerous notes and a lexicon of all mathematical terms. An introduction and a French translation provide further insights into the text. The edition of the Greek books of the Conica will be thematically complemented by volume 3 of the SGA series, containing the critical edition of Eutocius of Ascalon's commentary on the Conica and its French translation.

Le volume 2.3, concluant l'édition des Coniques d'Apollonius de Perge, contient les trois autres Livres transmis en grec (Livres II-IV). Il est conçu selon le même principe que le volume précédent consacré au Livre I: il procure l'édition critique du texte grec, accompagnée de nombreuses notes et d'un lexique complet des termes mathématiques. L'édition est précédée d'une introduction et accompagnée d'une traduction française.
L'édition des Livres grecs des Coniques sera suivie, dans la même série SGA (volume 3), de l'édition critique avec traduction française du Commentaire aux Coniques d'Eutocius d'Ascalon.

Book IV of the Konika consists of two parts; the first presents a theory of poles and polars, the second deals with the number of intersections and points of contact in a conic section. Previously the book was only extant as the very unreliable text of a Greek commentary by Eutocius. Roshdi Rashed here presents for the first time an edition of an Arabic translation based on a text independent of this Greek version. This is a valuable re-discovery, for which reason it is published here as a separate volume. It contains an edition princeps of the Arabic text, together with a faithful translation and a historical-mathematical commentary.

Le livre IV des Coniques est composé de deux parties. La première porte sur la théorie des pôles et des polaires et la seconde sur le nombre des points d'intersection et de contact des sections coniques. Ce livre n’a été jusqu’ici connu que dans une version grandement défectueuse d’une recension d’Eutocius. C’est ce que permet de montrer l’édition et l’étude de la traduction arabe d’une version grecque indépendante de ce dernier. Il s'agit donc d’une véritable redécouverte, ce qui explique qu’un volume entier soit consacré à ce livre. On y trouve l’editio princeps de cette version arabe, une traduction rigoureuse et un commentaire mathématique et historique.

The first three books of the Conica deals with the basic elements of the theory of conical sections, before Apollonius turns to particular problems in the following books. Until recently these three books were only known from Eutocius’ text. However, they were known to be part of an Arabic translation of a Greek version independent of Eutocius’ text.

A close study of the Arabic texts of books 2 and 3 leads to the same conclusion as that which, as a result of the new edition, was reached for the first book: that the Greek version provides a better and sounder text. This volume provides a first critical edition of the Arabic text, the first translation of it into a modern language and a detailed historical and mathematical commentary.

Les trois premiers livres des Coniques sont consacrés aux fondements de la théorie des sections coniques. Ces trois livres étaient connus jusqu’à une date récente par la recension d’Eutocius. Mais on savait aussi qu’ils font partie d’une traduction arabe d’un manuscrit grec indépendant de cette recension. L’examen montre que ce manuscrit grec présente un texte meilleur et plus sûr, comme on l’a déjà montré pour le premier livre. Le lecteur trouve dans ce tome l’editio princeps de la traduction arabe, sa première traduction dans une langue moderne et un commentaire historique et mathématique détaillé.

The treatise on conic sections by the Hellenistic mathematician Apollonius from Perga is regarded as a supreme achievement of Greek mathematics and maintained its authority right up to the 18th century. This new edition is the first to consider all Greek and Arabic sources, with the Arabic texts being presented in the first ever critical edition. Both versions of the text are accompanied by a French translation, an extensive mathematical commentary, numerous philological notes and a complete glossary. The four volumes of the edition are intended to be completed in 2009.

Le traité des Coniques est l’œuvre la plus difficile du grand mathématicien hellénistique Apollonius de Perge. Il s’agit non seulement de l’un des plus hauts sommets ‑ voire du plus haut sommet ‑ des mathématiques grecques, mais aussi d’un texte phare de l’histoire des mathématiques universelles: tous les mathématiciens d’envergure, jusqu’au 18^e siècle, ont puisé à cette recherche substantielle sur les sections coniques.

This set of books offers the first complete English translation of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ġazālī’s The Intentions of the Philosophers [Maqāṣid al-falāsifa], an encyclopaedic philosophical summa on logic, metaphysics, and physics, in fifteen treatises, heavily inspired by Avicenna’s thought. The translation is accompanied by an analytical running commentary and by a comprehensive monographic study on the work.

Volume 1 presents the reader with a full English translation of, and an ample commentary on, the Maqāṣid al-falāsifa. The translation is based on a new inspection of Arabic manuscripts and the collation of the Arabic text with the medieval Latin version of the work, and it corrects the available Arabic editions in several points. The running commentary, addressing philological, philosophical, and historical issues, not only grants a full comprehension of the varied contents of the work, but also contributes to the academic study of Arabic philosophy, by clarifying the role of philosophical handbook played in history by al-Ġazālī’s work.

Les textes réunis dans ces quatre volumes portent sur l’histoire et la philosophie des mathématiques et de leurs applications. Les trois premiers tomes sont consacrés à l’histoire des mathématiques (arithmétique, algèbre, géométrie), de l’optique et de l’astronomie, de l’Antiquité à l’Âge classique. Les très nombreuses études qu’ils contiennent ont renouvelé, au cours des cinquante dernières années, l’étude des principaux mathématiciens grecs – Euclide, Archimède, Apollonius, Diophante, Ménélaüs – et ont montré quelle a été la nature et la portée de leur réception et de leurs transformations, tant dans l’Islam classique qu’au cours de la première modernité européenne. Le quatrième volume fonde et explore divers champs de recherche entre philosophie et mathématiques, des interactions polymorphes propres à la science grecque, arabe et latine jusqu’à la mathématisation des sciences sociales au XVIII^e siècle. Tant par la nouveauté des matériaux découverts et édités pour la première fois que par la puissance et la finesse qui en guident toujours l’analyse épistémologique, les dizaines de contributions ici rassemblées représentent une œuvre majeure, qui a changé l’histoire des sciences de notre temps.