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This volume presents a new English translation of Jalal al-Din al-Dawani's (1424-1502) treatise on the ancient problem of the Liar Paradox, along with an extensive historical introduction and a detailed commentary on the text. Al-Dawani was a distinguished Persian philosopher who wrote important texts in logic, philosophy, theology, and ethics. His text includes a critical discussion of several proposed solutions to the Paradox, and touches on a wide range of topics in philosophical logic and the philosophy of language, including the problem of empty names, the status of
reductio ad absurdum, the possibility of self-reference, and the role of speaker intention in restricting the scope of subject and predicate terms. Al-Dawani's own proposed solution involves the articulation of a grounding constraint on truth-aptness of the same sort proposed in the 20th century by Hans Herzberger and Saul Kripke, a constraint that is defended in part by an analysis of the distinction between declarative and non-declarative discourse that is reminiscent of, but different than, J.L. Austin's analysis of the distinction between declarative and performative discourse.
In this translation, Ahmed Alwishah and David Sanson introduce a text from very late post-Avicennan philosophy to the English speaking world. Not only does it introduce a new source for a vast field of academia, but it contributes to a growing period of scholarly interest. This translation will spur robust debate amongst students and scholars of the history of Islamic thought, logic, and the philosophy of language.
About the author
Ahmed Alwishah is Professor of Philosophy at Pitzer College. He is the co-editor of
Illuminationist Texts and Textual Studies (2017),
Aristotle and the Arabic Tradition (2015), and
Refinement and Commentary of Suhrawardi's Intimations (2002), among numerous articles.
David Sanson is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Illinois State University. He is the author of many journal articles and book chapters on the philosophy of time, logic, metaphysics, and the history of Islamic thought.
