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The latest in the acclaimed
Makers of the Muslim World series (Series Editor: Patricia Crone).
¿Makers of the Muslim World is the first series devoted to the men and women throughout history who have made a significant contribution to the political, intellectual and religious landscape of the Muslim world. Each title combines first-rate scholarship with a strong emphasis on readability, and will serve as a perfect introduction for academic and lay readers alike.¿
Ibn Tufayl (d. 1185) was an Andalusian courtier, philosopher, Sufi master, and royal physician to the Almohad Caliphs. He inspired the twelfth-century Andalusian revolt against Ptolemaic astronomy and sponsored the career of the most renowned Aristotelian of medieval times, Abu al-Walid Ibn Rushd (the Latin Averroes). Ibn Tufayl was an exemplar of the kind of versatile scholar early Almohad culture wanted to cultivate.
In this thought provoking and concise account, Taneli Kukkonen explores the life and thought of Ibn Tufayl and assesses the influence and legacy of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, Ibn Tufayl¿s famous philosophical romance. Hayy Ibn Yaqzan became a popular and often-copied work in early modern Europe; it has since secured a place as one of the best read pieces in all Arabic literature, partly due to its outstanding literary qualities, in part because it provides an ideal introduction to the themes and preoccupations of classical Arabic philosophy. The study sets Hayy in its historical and philosophical context and paints a vivid portrait of the world as Ibn Tufayl saw it and as he wished for it to be seen.
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List of contents
PrefaceHayy Ibn Yaqzan: An overview
1 LIFE AND TIMESThe Almohad Revolution
A New Intellectual Order
The Caves of Guadix
The Medical Tradition
In Royal Service
Sufi, Musicologist, Medical Author
Sponsor
2 HAYYHayy: A Synopsis
An Architectural Design
Hayy's Theme
Pointers and Reminders
The Spiral Path
Authority and Authentication
Harmony and Hierarchy
3 ISLAND LIFEThe Island
The Perfect Climate
From Ceylon to Mali
The Twice-born Child
History or Drama
Seeing with One's Own Eyes
Beginning from the Beginning
Experience and Art
The Limits of Skill
4 NATURETaking in the World
Structure and Scaffolding
Suspended between Worlds
Natures and Powers
Forms and Universals
Synthesis and Analysis
Matter
The Elements
The Heavenly Spheres
5 SOULLiving Nature
Vital Heat
The Vehicle of the Soul
The Spirit which is God's
Diffusion and Suffusion
Plurality and Unity
The Human Distinction
The Science of the Soul
6 THREE DUTIESFinitude and Transcendence
Two Worlds
Ought from Is
Three Lives
The Conservation Principle
Kinship with the Heavens
Leaving the World Behind
7 GODUnveiling the Mysteries
From Asceticism to Mysticism
Tasting the Truth
Theological Precepts
Like Knowing Like
Annihilation and Restoration
Faces and Names
The "Eastern Wisdom"
Sensation and Intellection
Arrival
8 RELIGIONReligion and Society
Asal and Salaman
Language and Reality
Modeling Perfection
Re-entering the Cave
Human Weakness
Morality and Scripture
Mortality and Revelation
9 AFTERLIFEArabic Margins
Hebrew Echoes
Early Modern Success
The "Robinson" Question
Orientalist Ideas
Back to Ibn Tufayl
BibliographyIndex
About the author
Taneli Kukkonen has held appointments at the universities of Victoria, Jyväskylä, and Otago. He is currently Visiting Associate Professor in Philosophy at New York University Abu Dhabi. He has published widely on topics in Arabic philosophy and the Aristotelian tradition.
Summary
A timely biography of Ibn Tufayl that sets one of the most famous Arabic philosophical works – Hayy ibn Yaqdhan – in its historical and philosophical context
