Preface to the First Edition
The interest of Western scholars in the development of
Islamic philosophical thought has been comparatively small. There appear to be
two reasons for this neglect: the nature of the subject matter and the character
of Western scholarship itself. The main body of Islamic thought, in so far as it
has any relevance outside the scope of Islam, belongs to a remote past. In fact,
as this book will show, Islamic philosophy is and continues to be, even in the
twentieth century, fundamentally medieval in spirit and outlook. Consequently,
from the time of Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon until now, interest in this
thought has been cultivated in the West only in so far as it could be shown to
have a direct or indirect bearing on the development of European philosophy or
Christian theology. More recently, attempts have been made by Western scholars
to break away from this pattern and to approach Islamic philosophy as an
intellectual concern in its own right, but the fruits of these efforts remain
meager compared to the work of scholars in such cognate fields as the political,
economic, and social development of the Muslim peoples.
Second, we note the radically modern direction that
philosophy has taken in the West, from the seventeenth century on. Fresh
attempts are continually being made to formulate a coherent world view for
modern man, in which the role of ancient (Greek) and medieval (both Arabic and
Latin) thought is progressively ignored or minimized. In this way Islamic
philosophy suffers the same fate as European medieval philosophy. Furthermore,
the role that Arabic philosophy played in preserving and transmitting Greek
thought between A.D. 800 and 1200 has become much less significant for Western
scholarship since the recovery of the original Greek texts.
It can hardly be denied that the system of ideas by which the
Muslim peoples have interpreted and continue to interpret the world is relevant
to the student of culture. Nor is the more abstract, formulation of this system,
in theology or metaphysics, devoid of, intrinsic value. For it should be
recalled that Greek philosophy, in which modern Western thought has its origins,
has played a crucial role in the formulation of Islamic philosophy, whereas it
has made almost no impact on other cultures, such as the Indian or Chinese. This
consideration alone should be sufficient to reveal the close affinities between
Islamic and Western thought.
The first important modern study in the general field of
Arabic philosophy is Amable Jourdain’s Recherches critiques sur l’âge et
l’origine des traductions d’Aristote et sur Ies documents grecs ou arabes
employés par Ies docteurs scholastiques, which appeared in 1819. This book
helped to underscore the influence of Arabic philosophy on Western, particularly
Latin, scholastic thought. It was followed in 1852 by Ernest Rénan’s classic
study, Averroês et I’averroïsme, which has since been reprinted several
times. In 1859 appeared Solomon Munk’s Mélanges de philosophie juive et arabe,
a general survey of Jewish-Arabic philosophy which is still of definite value.
Early in the twentieth century appeared T. J. de Boer’s Geschichte der
Philosophie in Islam (1901), which was translated into English in 1903 and
continues to be the best comprehensive account of Islamic philosophy in German
and English. A more popular but still useful survey, Arabic Thought and Its
Place in History by de Lacy O’Leary, appeared in 1922. The many surveys by
Carra de Vaux, G. Quadri, and L. Gauthier are listed in the Bibliography.
We must mention, however, three historical narratives which
appeared in very recent years. M. Cruz Hernandez, Filosofia hispano-musulmana
(1957), though primarily concerned with Spanish-Muslim philosophy, contains
extensive and valuable accounts of the major "Eastern" philosophers and schools.
W. Montgomery Watt’s Islamic Philosophy and Theology (1962), which is
part of a series entitled "Islamic Surveys," is weighted in favor of theology
and therefore does not add much to our knowledge of Islamic philosophy. Henry
Corbin’s Histoire de la philosophie islamique (1964), though very
valuable, does not recognize the organic character of Islamic thought and tends
to overemphasize the Shi’ite and particularly Isma’ili element in the history of
this thought. M. M. Sharif’s History of Muslim Philosophy is a symposium
by a score of writers and lacks for this reason the unity of conception and plan
that should characterize a genuine historical survey.
In the field of Greco-Arab scholarship, Islamic philosophy
owes much to the studies of Richard Walzer, now available in the one-volume
Greek into Arabic (1962), and to the critical editions of texts prepared by
M. Bouyges, S.J. (d. 1951) and ‘Abdu’l-Rahman Badawi. Bouyges made available to
scholars, in the Bibliotheca Arabica Scholasticorum, a series of
fundamental works in unsurpassed critical editions. A. R. Badawi has edited,
over a period of two decades, a vast amount of philosophical texts which have
considerably widened the scope of Arabic philosophical studies. As for the
Ishraqi tradition, Henry Corbin is a pioneer whose studies will probably acquire
greater signif1cance as the post-Averroist and Shi‘ite element in Muslim
philosophy is more fully appreciated. Finally, the studies of L. Gardet, Mlle.
A. M. Goichon, L. Gauthier, I. Madkour, S. van den Bergh, G. C. Anawati, S.
Pines, M. Alonso. and L. Massignon are among the most important contemporary
contributions to the study of Muslim thought; these books are listed in the
Bibliography.
An argument against the attempt to write a general history of
Islamic philosophy might be based on the fact that a great deal of the material
involved must await critical editions and analysis before an attempt can be made
to assess it. I believe that this objection is valid in principle. However, a
fair amount of material is now available, either in good editions or
manuscripts, and the collation of the two should make interpretation relatively
accurate. More over, the writing of a general history that would give scholars a
comprehensive view of the whole field is a prerequisite of progress in that
field, since it is not possible otherwise to determine the areas in which
further research must be pursued or the gaps which must be filled.
We might finally note that the writing of a history of
philosophy, as distinct from a philosophical chronicle, must involve a
considerable element of interpretation and evaluation, in addition to the bare
narrative of events, the listing of authors, or the exposition of concepts;
without such interpretation the dynamic movement of the mind, in its endeavor to
comprehend the world in a coherent manner, can scarcely be understood. In taking
this approach a writer might find it valuable to reexamine areas which others
have studied before him. In this hazardous undertaking I have naturally tried to
learn as much as possible from other scholars. However, in the exposition of
philosophical concepts or problems I have relied primarily on the writings of
the philosophers themselves. Sometimes the interpretation of philosophical or
theological doctrines has compelled me to turn to the studies of contemporary
authorities. I did not feel, however, once those doctrines had been sufficiently
clarified, that it was necessary to multiply these authorities endlessly. The
purpose of the Bibliography at the end of the book is to acquaint the interested
reader with the work of other scholars in the field and to indicate the extent
of the material used in the writing of this book.
I wish to acknowledge my debt to the many persons and
institutions that have made the publication of this work possible. In
particular, I thank the librarians at Istanbul, Oxford, the Escorial, Paris,
London, the Vatican, and the Library of Congress who have generously given their
assistance. To the Research Committee and the Arabic Studies Program of the
American University of Beirut I am particularly indebted for financing the
research and travel that I did in connection with writing large parts of this
book. To the Publications Committee of this University I am indebted for a
generous subsidy to meet the editorial costs of preparing the manuscript for
press. I also wish to thank the former Dean of the School Arts and Sciences of
the American University of Beirut, Professor Farid S. Hanania, for his
encouragement in the early stages of writing the book, and Professors Arthur
Sewell and David Curnow for their help in editing the manuscript, at least up to
Chapter Seven. And to the many unnamed scholars and colleagues, from whose
advice and criticism I have profited more than I can say, I extend a warm
expression of thanks. Finally to Georgetown University I am grateful for
assistance in the final preparation of the manuscript and the opportunity, while
engaged in teaching, to complete the last chapters of this book, and to the
staff of Columbia University Press for their courtesy and efficiency in
producing this volume.
Majid Fakhry
