Avicenna and His Legacy

For a variety of reasons we are witnessing a great surge of interest in Islamic civilization, especially the place of the rational sciences within Islamic civilization. Scholarship on the early phases of science and philosophy in Islam (up to the eleventh century) is well-established, and there are numerous studies available. However, far less has been published on the next phase, which includes Avicenna (d. 1036) and the critical analysis of his oeuvre through the fifteenth century. Despite this scholarly and critical gap, the centuries immediately following the monumental achievements of Avicenna have been rightly characterized as a golden age of science and philosophy. Generation after generation scrutinized the Avicennan legacy, explicating and expanding upon the wealth of writings left by the master. Critical thinking in logic, astronomy, medicine, and metaphysics spurred many new developments. This volume presents seventeen essays on Avicenna, his followers and critics, many of whom are just now being introduced to western scholarship. These essays consider subjects including Islamic intellectual history, the nature of divine knowledge, astronomy, cosmology, medicine, ontology, philosophy, and the exegetical method. The contributors to Avicenna and his Legacy include both established scholars as well as some of the best of the new generation.