History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

Intellect and alienation in Ibn Bājja and Ibn Ṭufayl, author of the philosophical desert island castaway tale “Ḥayy Ibn Yaqẓān.”

The development of Islamic law and jurisprudence (fiqh), and the many-sided output of the legal theorist Ibn Ḥazm.

The flowering of philosophy among Muslims and Jews in al-Andalus (Muslim-controlled Spain and Portugal).

Why did al-Ghazālī judge "the philosophers" to be apostates? Peter finds out from Frank Griffel.

In his “Incoherence of the Philosophers,” al-Ghazālī attacks Avicenna’s theories about the eternity of the universe and insists on the possibility of miracles.

Al-Ghazālī’s search for truth leads him to philosophy, Asharite theology, and ultimately the mystical tradition of Sufism.

Peter talks to Dimitri Gutas about Avicenna's sources, philosophical methods, and influence.

With his Flying Man argument, Avicenna explores self-awareness and the relation between soul and body.

Avicenna’s proof of the Necessary Existent is ingenious and influential; but does it amount to a proof of God’s existence?

Avicenna revolutionizes metaphysics with groundbreaking ideas about necessity and contingency, and his new distinction between essence and existence.

Despite a tumultuous life, Avicenna manages to become the most influential of all medieval philosophers.

Al-Ash‘arī puts his stamp on the future of Islamic theology by emphasizing God’s untrammeled power and freedom.

Peter is joined by Farhad Daftary, a leading expert on the Shiite group known as the Ismā'īlīs.

Miskawayh, al-‘Amiri, al-Tawhidi, the Brethren of Purity and Ismaili missionaries bring together philosophy with Persian culture, literature and Islam.

Drawing on Galen and Aristotle, philosophers from al-Kindi to Miskawayh compose ethical works designed us to achieve health in soul, as well as body.