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Allegory and Philosophy in Avicenna (Ibn Sînâ)
Islamic allegory is the product of a cohesive literary tradition to which few contributed as significantly as Ibn Sina (Avicenna), the eleventh-century Muslim philosopher. Peter Heath here offers a detailed examination of Avicenna's contribution, paying special attention to Avicenna's psychology and poetics and to the ways in which they influenced strains of theological, mystical, and literary thought in subsequent Islamic—and Western—intellectual and religious history.
Heath begins by showing how Avicenna's writings fit into the context and general history of Islamic allegory and explores the interaction among allegory, allegoresis, and philosophy in Avicenna's thought. He then provides a brief introduction to Avicenna as an historical figure. From there, he examines the ways in which Avicenna's cosmological, psychological, and epistemological theories find parallel, if diverse, expression in the disparate formats of philosophical and allegorical narration. Included in this book is an illustration of Avicenna's allegorical practice. This takes the form of a translation of the Mi'raj Nama (The Book of the Prophet Muhammad's Ascent to Heaven), a short treatise in Persian generally attributed to Avicenna.
The text concludes with an investigation of the literary dimension Avicenna's allegorical theory and practice by examining his use of description metaphor. Allegory and Philosophy in Avicenna is an original and important work that breaks new ground by applying the techniques of modern literary criticism to the study of Medieval Islamic philosophy. It will be of interest to scholars and students of medieval Islamic and Western literature and philosophy.
Heath begins by showing how Avicenna's writings fit into the context and general history of Islamic allegory and explores the interaction among allegory, allegoresis, and philosophy in Avicenna's thought. He then provides a brief introduction to Avicenna as an historical figure. From there, he examines the ways in which Avicenna's cosmological, psychological, and epistemological theories find parallel, if diverse, expression in the disparate formats of philosophical and allegorical narration. Included in this book is an illustration of Avicenna's allegorical practice. This takes the form of a translation of the Mi'raj Nama (The Book of the Prophet Muhammad's Ascent to Heaven), a short treatise in Persian generally attributed to Avicenna.
The text concludes with an investigation of the literary dimension Avicenna's allegorical theory and practice by examining his use of description metaphor. Allegory and Philosophy in Avicenna is an original and important work that breaks new ground by applying the techniques of modern literary criticism to the study of Medieval Islamic philosophy. It will be of interest to scholars and students of medieval Islamic and Western literature and philosophy.
- GenresPhilosophyIslamHistory
272 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1992
40 people want to read
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January 25, 2019
Excellent book covering major aspects of Avicenna's psychology and theory of knowledge in an effort to discern his theory of allegory and why he didn't just stick with writing discursive texts.
The premise of the work is that Avicenna's texts can be divided into logos - technical, discursive - texts and muthos - allegorical - texts. In fact, Avicenna has a number of the latter, indisputably including Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, The Recital of the Bird, and Salman and Absal (and, as Heath argues, likely Miraj Nama as well). Heath argues that other theories of his muthos texts, including Gutas' theory that it is simply to convey the same knowledge as in his logos texts to the masses - fail to account for the content of the texts in question and the biographical evidence of when they are written. Rather than being "another way to say the same thing" (as there is remarkable parallelism between his logos theories and his muthos depictions), they allow for Avicenna to explore a new realm of creative expression vis a vis eschatology and the purpose of philosophy. As the latter is to achieve psychic perfection, the contradictions of a particular rational soul encountering the spiritual realm is not satisfactorily expressed in his logos texts. By the time the allegories were written his logos texts have matured, and therefore Avicenna begins writing allegorical texts. Texts that require knowledge of his logos texts and are clearly not meant for the masses (as opposed to, say, prophetic revelations).
I found his thesis quite persuasive. I also enjoyed the issues/concerns he brought up in Avicenna's psychology, which I have also been struggling to understand: the unity of the animal soul vs the intellect, for example.
Heath also translates somebody's Miraj Nama, a commentary on the Ascension of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him!). To be frank, some parts of the commentary were very interesting to me. Others seemed a bit shallow. I will have to think about it more. I think Corbin's more explicit disavowal of symbolic texts not being explicated discursively in a manner that disregards the nature of a Symbol (as necessarily tied to what it symbolizes) was relevant at times.
Another interesting point just touched upon by Heath was that allegory unites the intellect and the imagination. I will have to think about this more, but it seems to be bolstered both in Avicenna's theory of the Prophetic intellect and in his allegorical writings themselves!!
In summary, this was a good read that raised and attempted to answer a number of questions about why we write stories and what role allegories play in philosophy.
The premise of the work is that Avicenna's texts can be divided into logos - technical, discursive - texts and muthos - allegorical - texts. In fact, Avicenna has a number of the latter, indisputably including Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, The Recital of the Bird, and Salman and Absal (and, as Heath argues, likely Miraj Nama as well). Heath argues that other theories of his muthos texts, including Gutas' theory that it is simply to convey the same knowledge as in his logos texts to the masses - fail to account for the content of the texts in question and the biographical evidence of when they are written. Rather than being "another way to say the same thing" (as there is remarkable parallelism between his logos theories and his muthos depictions), they allow for Avicenna to explore a new realm of creative expression vis a vis eschatology and the purpose of philosophy. As the latter is to achieve psychic perfection, the contradictions of a particular rational soul encountering the spiritual realm is not satisfactorily expressed in his logos texts. By the time the allegories were written his logos texts have matured, and therefore Avicenna begins writing allegorical texts. Texts that require knowledge of his logos texts and are clearly not meant for the masses (as opposed to, say, prophetic revelations).
I found his thesis quite persuasive. I also enjoyed the issues/concerns he brought up in Avicenna's psychology, which I have also been struggling to understand: the unity of the animal soul vs the intellect, for example.
Heath also translates somebody's Miraj Nama, a commentary on the Ascension of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him!). To be frank, some parts of the commentary were very interesting to me. Others seemed a bit shallow. I will have to think about it more. I think Corbin's more explicit disavowal of symbolic texts not being explicated discursively in a manner that disregards the nature of a Symbol (as necessarily tied to what it symbolizes) was relevant at times.
Another interesting point just touched upon by Heath was that allegory unites the intellect and the imagination. I will have to think about this more, but it seems to be bolstered both in Avicenna's theory of the Prophetic intellect and in his allegorical writings themselves!!
In summary, this was a good read that raised and attempted to answer a number of questions about why we write stories and what role allegories play in philosophy.
Displaying 1 of 1 review