The Reception of Ibn Sīnā's Physics in Later Islamic Thought

Year 2010, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 15 - 36, 07.09.2010

Jules Janssens

Abstract

In the Physics of his major encyclopedia al-Shifāʾ, Ibn Sīnā does not limit himself to paraphrase Aristotle's Physics, but also adds important innovative ideas. However, one may wonder whether they did really influence the later Islamic tradition? Based on the treatise on change, present in Ibn Sīnā's Physics, II, 1-4, it is shown that major later thinkers as Bahmanyār b. Marzubān, Abū l-ʿAbbās al-Lawkarī, Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī and Mullā Ṣadrā al-Shīrāzī were using his exposé in a significant way. Certainly, they did it in very different ways, but they clearly expressed their own views with an eye on Ibn Sīnā's doctrine. The present paper details the elements and scope of this influence.

Keywords

Ibn Sīnā, Bahmanyār b. Marzubān, Abū l-ʿAbbās al-Lawkarī, Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, Mullā á¹¢adrā al-Shīrāzī, Physics

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