Al-Ġazālī, The Intentions of the Philosophers

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.