PIMSPontifical Institute
of
Mediaeval Studies

It is a familiar fact that philosophy of the Islamic world had an enormous impact on philosophy in Latin Christendom, especially on the scholastic tradition represented by such figures as Aquinas, Scotus, and Ockham. Less familiar is the fact that, a century or so before scholastic emerged in Latin Christendom, a very similar philosophical tradition emerged in the Islamic East (Persia and its environs). Dozens of philosopher-theologians produced thousands of pages of highly sophisticated argumentation that, as this talk will show, anticipated philosophical moves made in Latin scholasticism on such issues as syllogistic theory, the powers of the human soul, and the nature of being itself. One can think about this phenomenon as an “Avicennan scholasticism” because it responded primarily to Avicenna (Ibn Sina), not to Aristotle as in the case of the Latin scholastics.

Peter Adamson is Professor of Late Ancient and Arabic Philosophy at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. He has published widely in ancient and medieval philosophy, especially on Neoplatonism and on philosophy in the Islamic world, and is the host of the History of Philosophy podcast.

The lecture will begin at 5 PM Eastern time.

Join Zoom Meeting:
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Because of a recent COVID exposure (just over 10 days ago), during the lecture we will practice social distancing and wear masks; if you have health concerns, please feel free to view the lecture online if this would be more comfortable for you. A reception will follow the lecture in the Laurence K. Shook Common Room at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 59 Queen’s Park Crescent East. Anyone attending the reception is encouraged to practice social distancing and be masked when not eating and drinking.

For further information, please contact Institute Secretary Cynthia Watson at cynthia.watson@utoronto.ca.