Before and After Avicenna : Proceedings of the First Conference of the Avicenna Study Group pdf

Avicenna’s professional and intellectual relations with the Muttazilftheologians of his day have, to date, received very little scholarlyattention. Avicenna’s assessment of the intellectual rigor of Muttazilfvie’..vs on topics in the Natural Sciences and some oftheir metaphysical presuppositions can pieced together to somedegree from random statements in the the JVagأ¤t, and otherworks. Alnoor Dhanani’s contribution, “Rocks in the Heavens?! TheEncounter between CAbd al-Cabbأ¤r and Ibn Sfnأ¤,” investigates amuch more substantial source for such a reconstruction. In a (stillunedited) letter to an unidentified recipient, Avicenna responds to aquestion about the nature of space (makأ¼n) in which Mu’tazilf kalimviews and definitions are adumbrated and the leader of the Mu’tazilaof the time, the Qأ¤df CAbd al-Cabbأ¤r (d. 415/ 1025) is expresslyquoted. Dhanani examines the evidence for possible professionalcontacts lx:tween Avicenna and CAbcl al-Cabbأ¤r at the Bأ¼yid courtat Rayy, and presents convincing arguments for Avicenna’s knowl-edge of Mu’tazilf refutations of philosophy, along with a detailedaccount of ‘Abd al-أ¥abbأ¤r’s testimony on physical theories. Dhanani’sappraisal of the encounter between Avicenna and ‘Abd al-أ–abbأ¤rserves as a departure point for a valuable contribution to the ongoing