ISLAMIC AND JEWISH PHILOSOPHY: TRANSLATIONS1

(A). ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY

1. Reasons for Discussing Islamic Philosophy
The Arabian philosophy was one of the principal channels whereby the complete Aristotle was
introduced to the West. The great philosophers of Medieval Islam, e.g., Avicenna and Averroes,
were more than mere transmitters or even commentators; they changed and developed the
philosophy of Aristotle, more or less according to the spirit of neo-Platonism, and several of them
interpreted Aristotle on important points in a sense which, whether exegetically correct or not, was
incompatible with the Christian theology and faith. For example, when Aristotle appeared to
medieval thinkers in the shape given him by Averroes, naturally appeared as an enemy of Christian
wisdom, Christian philosophy in the wide sense.
In order to understand the polemics of St. Thomas Aquinas and others, it is necessary to know
something of medieval Islamic philosophy.
2. Origins of Islamic Philosophy- Islamic philosophy was connected with Christianity in its origins.
Christian Syrians were the first translators of Aristotle and other ancient philosophers into Arabic.
(i). Stage One-Translation of Greek works into Syriac at the school of Edessa in Mesopotamia
(363). Some works of Aristotle and Porphyry’s Isagoge were translated into Syriac. In the sixth
century works of Aristotle and Porphyry and writings of Pseudo-Dionysius were translated into
Syriac at the Monophysites schools of Syria.
(ii). Stage Two- The translation of the Syriac translations into Arabic. Medical works were
translated first of all. Later, philosophical works were also translated, and in 832 a school of
translators was established at Baghad, an institution that produced Arabic versions of Aristotle,
Alexander of Aphrodisias, Themistius, Porphyry and Ammonius. Some works of Plato, Plotinus
and Proclus were also translated.
(A.). Muslim philosophers can be divided into two groups, the eastern group and the western
group. Our interest is in the eastern group.
(1). Alfarabi (d. 950)
Alfarabi belonged to the Baghdad School. He helped to introduce the Islamic cultured world to
logic of Aristotle. As concerns the classification of the departments of philosophy and theology,
he made philosophy self-conscious, making it off from theology. Logic is propaedeutic and
preparation for philosophy proper; Alfarabi divided logic into physics-comprising the particular
sciences, metaphysics, ethics or practical philosophy. His scheme for theology included as section:
(1) omnipotence and justice of God
(2) the unity and other attributes of God
(3) the doctrine of sanctions in the next life
(4) and (5) the individual rights and the social relations of the Moslem.

1
Fredrick Copleston, History of Medieval Philosophy, pp.186-204

1|Page
Alfarabi utilised Aristotelian arguments in proving the existence of God. On the supposition that
the things of the world are passively moved, he argued that they must receive their movement from
a first Mover, God. Also, the things of this world are contingent, they do not exist of necessity:
their essence does not involve their existence, as is shown by the fact that they come into being
and pass away. From this it follows that they have received their existence, and ultimately one
must admit a Being which exists essentially, necessarily, and is the Cause of the existence of all
contingent beings.
In the general system of Alfarabi, the neo-Platonic influence is manifest. The theme of emanation
is employed to show how from the ultimate Deity or One there proceed the Intelligence and the
world-Soul, from the thoughts or ideas of which proceeds the Cosmos, from the higher or outer
spheres to the lower or inner spheres. Bodies are composed of matter and form. The intelligence
of man is illuminated by the cosmic intelligence, which is the active intellect of man. The
illumination of the human intellect is the explanation of the fact that our concepts “fit” things,
since the Ideas in God are at once the exemplar and source of the concepts in the human mind and
of the forms in things.
In the mysticism of Alfarabi, the highest task of man is to know God, and, just as the general
process of the universe is a flowing out from God and a return to God, so should man, who proceeds
from God in the emanative process and who is enlightened by God, strive after the return to and
likeness with God.
(ii). Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā) (980-1037)

Avicenna is the real creator of a scholastic system in the Islamic world. A Persian by birth, born
near Bokhara, he received his education in the Arab tongue. This philosopher is reputed as the real
creator of the scholastic system in the Islamic speaking world.
He died at Hamadan at the age of fifty-seven, after performing his ablutions, repenting of his sins,
distributing abundant alms and freeing his slaves.

A Persian by birth, Ibn Sina received his education in the Arabic tongue, in which he wrote most
of his works. He learnt in succession, Arabic literature, geometry, and jurisprudence. He
outstripped his instructors and learnt by himself, theology, physics, mathematics, and medicine,
and at the age or 16 years, he was already a practicing doctor. He then gave himself one year and
a half of studies in philosophy and logic. But it was not until he chanced upon a commentary by
Alfarabi that he was able to satisfactorily understand the metaphysics of Aristotle; a book which
he confessed to having read forty times without being able to understand.

Avicenna too made his division of philosophy, which was somewhat wider than that worked out
by Alfarabi: Logic, or speculative philosophy (physics, mathematics and theology) is one branch,
while practical philosophy (ethics, economics and politics) is another. He also divided theology
into two: 1) first theology, which is equivalent to ontology and natural theology. 2) Second
theology, which is equivalent to Islamic studies.

Avicenna followed Aristotle pretty much in his illustration of how we come to possess the notion
of being. He insisted though, that the mind does not necessarily depend on the senses in order to
form the notion of being. It is normal to acquire the notion of being by means of the senses, that
is, through experience. He would still be able to affirm his own existence. On account of this

2|Page
ability, the person would still be able to form the notion of being, even if he cannot enjoy the
advantage of the senses in forming this notion like the rest of humanity with good senses do. But
on the supposition that a person was so born that he was unable to exercise any of his senses, it
would be doubtful whether this person would still be able to form the notion of being. But
Avicenna’s system grants that the person would still be able to form the notion of being. The
person would admittedly be able to form the idea of being, because the person would still be
capable of self-consciousness.

Another central idea in Avicenna is the idea of necessity. All reality is necessary, but this necessity
should be understood properly. A particular object in the world is not necessary of itself. This is
because the essence of a particular existent does not involve its existence. It is a being which comes
into existence and out of existence. At sometime it was not, it came into being, and will finally go
out of being.

A particular being is necessary, though, on account of the fact that its existence is determined by
the necessary action of an external cause. A contingent being, then, is that the existence of which
is due to the action of an external cause, the action of the cause itself being determined.

He concludes from this, therefore, that there cannot be a chain of causes for there would not be a
reason for anything to exist. There must be a first uncaused cause. This uncaused being cannot
receive its existence from another, nor can its existence form part of its essence, since composition
of parts would mean an interior-limiting factor: essence and existence must be identical in the
necessary being.
God, Avicenna observed, is “Pure Act”, unmixed actuality. It proceeds from this that God is Truth,
Goodness, Love and Life. A being which is always in act, without potentiality or privation, must
be absolute goodness and since the divine attributes are ontologically inseparable, the divine
goodness must be identical with absolute love. Now, as God is absolute goodness, he necessarily
tends to diffuse his goodness, and this means that he necessarily creates. As God is a necessary
being, all his attributes must be necessary. He is therefore, necessarily creator. This leads to a
further affirmation that creation is from eternity, for if God is necessarily creator, and God is
eternal, creation must be eternal. Again, if God cerates by the necessity of his nature, it follows
too that there is no free choice in creation, God could not create otherwise or other things than the
ones he actually created.

God can produce immediately only a being like himself. It is impossible for God to create material
things directly. God, thus, being a creature, has received existence and this is the beginning of
duality. In the One, there is no duality, while in the Primary Intelligence there’s a duality of essence
and existence. There’s also a duality of knowledge-the primary intelligence knows the One or God
as necessary and itself as “possible.” In this sense, Avicenna deduces the ten intelligences, which
exhibit a growing multiplicity and so bridges the gap between the unity of God and the multiplicity
of creation. The tenth intelligence is the giver of forms received in prime matter. The intelligences
differ in the degree they are proximate to the one.

3|Page
Apart from giving forms, the tenth intelligence also performs the function of the active intellect in
man. It is this intelligence, which illumines the human mind to form abstract ideas.

Avicenna maintained the immortality of the soul, and sanctions in the after life, though interpreting
them in an intellectualist fashion. Reward consists in the righteous having the knowledge of the
purely intelligible objects; punishment, in the deprivation of such knowledge.
He endeavoured to reconcile the thought of Plato and Aristotle with the revelation of the Koran.
His thought centered around Aristotle and shows some Neo-Platonic influences as well as original
formulations of problems.
Each and every man acquires the notion of being through consciousness and affirmation of his
own existence. Limited, contingent beings are seen to be composed of matter and form, potency
and act, essence and existence. They are caused beings. Matter is the principle of individuation.
God alone is the necessary Being, Pure Act, and first mover. He is the only one in whom essence
is identical with existence. The concentric spheres of the heavens flow from God through creature
participation.
At the summit of this celestial hierarchy is the perfect first Intelligence which produces the first
sphere. It produces also a second, separated intelligence, which produces a third, and this in turn
produces the fourth. Thus there is a gradual descent to the tenth separated Intelligence, the Active
Intellect, the “giver of forms.” This tenth Intelligence functions as the active intellect in man. It
illuminates each human mind and enables each mind to grasp the natures or essences of things.

When Avicenna’s writings were translated into Spanish and then into Latin in the twelfth century,
several of the Latin Scholastics attributed the doctrine of Avicenna to Aristotle himself. The
writings of Avicenna were widely criticized in the Latin West, but his thought was nevertheless
influential in the development of Scholastic philosophy.

Averroes (Ibn Rusd ), 1126-1198 A.D

The son of a judge was born in Cordoba. He applied himself to the study of theology,
jurisprudence, medicine, mathematics and philosophy, after which he occupied judicial posts,
becoming also the physician to the Caliph in 1182. He fell in disfavour with Caliph al Mansur and
was banished from the court. He later crossed over to Morocco where he died.

Averroes was convinced that Aristotle was the culmination of the human intellect. He therefore
settled down to writing commentaries on the works of Aristotle. In some commentaries, authors
claim it is difficult to make out what is from Aristotle, from what is Averroes’.

The metaphysical scale reaches from pure matter as the lowest limit to pure Act, God, as the
highest limit, between these limits being the objects of potency and act, which form the natura
naturata. Prime matter is co-eternal with God. God, however, educed the forms of material things
from the potency of pure matter, and created the intelligences, ten in number. More interesting,
though, was Averroes notion of the general relation of philosophy and theology.

4|Page
Having endorsed Aristotle as the completer of human science, the super model of human perfection
and the author of a system, which is the supreme truth, Averroes had necessarily to attempt to
reconcile this pagan philosopher with the teaching of the orthodox Islamic faith. He tried doing
this by the doctrine of ‘double truth’. He holds that one and the same truth can be understood
clearly in philosophy and expressed allegorically in theology. The scientific formulation of truth
is achieved in philosophy, while in theology the same truth is expressed in a different way. The
picture-teaching of Koran expresses the truth in a manner intelligible to the ordinary man, whereas
the philosopher strips away the allegory and attains the truth, pure and simple. This idea was not
received by orthodox Islamic theology.

Averroes, by this doctrine, had subordinated theology to philosophy, to make the latter the judge
of the former, so that it belongs to the philosopher to decide what theological doctrines need to be
allegorically interpreted and in what meaning the allegories should consist.

The double truth theory has interpreted that Averroes meant that one proposition can be false in
philosophy; while in theology it is true. Authors think, however, that this was just a sarcastic way
of saying that certain theological doctrines are non-sense.
ISLAMIC AND JEWISH PHILOSOPHY: TRANSLATIONS2
(A). ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY
1. Reasons for Discussing Islamic Philosophy
The Arabian philosophy was one of the principal channels whereby the complete Aristotle was
introduced to the West. The great philosophers of Medieval Islam, e.g., Avicenna and Averroes,
were more than mere transmitters or even commentators; they changed and developed the
philosophy of Aristotle, more or less according to the spirit of neo-Platonism, and several of them
interpreted Aristotle on important points in a sense which, whether exegetically correct or not, was
incompatible with the Christian theology and faith. For example, when Aristotle appeared to
medieval thinkers in the shape given him by Averroes, naturally appeared as an enemy of Christian
wisdom, Christian philosophy in the wide sense.
In order to understand the polemics of St. Thomas Aquinas and others, it is necessary to know
something of medieval Islamic philosophy.
2. Origins of Islamic Philosophy- Islamic philosophy was connected with Christianity in its origins.
Christian Syrians were the first translators of Aristotle and other ancient philosophers into Arabic.
(i). Stage One-Translation of Greek works into Syriac at the school of Edessa in Mesopotamia
(363). Some works of Aristotle and Porphyry’s Isagoge were translated into Syriac. In the sixth
century works of Aristotle and Porphyry and writings of Pseudo-Dionysius were translated into
Syriac at the Monophysites schools of Syria.
(ii). Stage Two- The translation of the Syriac translations into Arabic. Medical works were
translated first of all. Later, philosophical works were also translated, and in 832 a school of
translators was established at Baghad, an institution that produced Arabic versions of Aristotle,

2
Fredrick Copleston, History of Medieval Philosophy, pp.186-204

5|Page
Alexander of Aphrodisias, Themistius, Porphyry and Ammonius. Some works of Plato, Plotinus
and Proclus were also translated.
(A.). Muslim philosophers can be divided into two groups, the eastern group and the western
group. Our interest is in the eastern group.
(1). Alfarabi (d. 950)
Alfarabi belonged to the Baghdad School. He helped to introduce the Islamic cultured world to
logic of Aristotle. As concerns the classification of the departments of philosophy and theology,
he made philosophy self-conscious, making it off from theology. Logic is propaedeutic and
preparation for philosophy proper; Alfarabi divided logic into physics-comprising the particular
sciences, metaphysics, ethics or practical philosophy. His scheme for theology included as section:
(1) omnipotence and justice of God
(2) the unity and other attributes of God
(3) the doctrine of sanctions in the next life
(4) and (5) the individual rights and the social relations of the Moslem.
Alfarabi utilised Aristotelian arguments in proving the existence of God. On the supposition that
the things of the world are passively moved, he argued that they must receive their movement from
a first Mover, God. Also, the things of this world are contingent, they do not exist of necessity:
their essence does not involve their existence, as is shown by the fact that they come into being
and pass away. From this it follows that they have received their existence, and ultimately one
must admit a Being which exists essentially, necessarily, and is the Cause of the existence of all
contingent beings.
In the general system of Alfarabi, the neo-Platonic influence is manifest. The theme of emanation
is employed to show how from the ultimate Deity or One there proceed the Intelligence and the
world-Soul, from the thoughts or ideas of which proceeds the Cosmos, from the higher or outer
spheres to the lower or inner spheres. Bodies are composed of matter and form. The intelligence
of man is illuminated by the cosmic intelligence, which is the active intellect of man. The
illumination of the human intellect is the explanation of the fact that our concepts “fit” things,
since the Ideas in God are at once the exemplar and source of the concepts in the human mind and
of the forms in things.
In the mysticism of Alfarabi, the highest task of man is to know God, and, just as the general
process of the universe is a flowing out from God and a return to God, so should man, who proceeds
from God in the emanative process and who is enlightened by God, strive after the return to and
likeness with God.
(ii). Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā) (980-1037)

Avicenna is the real creator of a scholastic system in the Islamic world. A Persian by birth, born
near Bokhara, he received his education in the Arab tongue. This philosopher is reputed as the real
creator of the scholastic system in the Islamic speaking world.
He died at Hamadan at the age of fifty-seven, after performing his ablutions, repenting of his sins,
distributing abundant alms and freeing his slaves.

6|Page
A Persian by birth, Ibn Sina received his education in the Arabic tongue, in which he wrote most
of his works. He learnt in succession, Arabic literature, geometry, and jurisprudence. He
outstripped his instructors and learnt by himself, theology, physics, mathematics, and medicine,
and at the age or 16 years, he was already a practicing doctor. He then gave himself one year and
a half of studies in philosophy and logic. But it was not until he chanced upon a commentary by
Alfarabi that he was able to satisfactorily understand the metaphysics of Aristotle; a book which
he confessed to having read forty times without being able to understand.

Avicenna too made his division of philosophy, which was somewhat wider than that worked out
by Alfarabi: Logic, or speculative philosophy (physics, mathematics and theology) is one branch,
while practical philosophy (ethics, economics and politics) is another. He also divided theology
into two: 1) first theology, which is equivalent to ontology and natural theology. 2) Second
theology, which is equivalent to Islamic studies.

Avicenna followed Aristotle pretty much in his illustration of how we come to possess the notion
of being. He insisted though, that the mind does not necessarily depend on the senses in order to
form the notion of being. It is normal to acquire the notion of being by means of the senses, that
is, through experience. He would still be able to affirm his own existence. On account of this
ability, the person would still be able to form the notion of being, even if he cannot enjoy the
advantage of the senses in forming this notion like the rest of humanity with good senses do. But
on the supposition that a person was so born that he was unable to exercise any of his senses, it
would be doubtful whether this person would still be able to form the notion of being. But
Avicenna’s system grants that the person would still be able to form the notion of being. The
person would admittedly be able to form the idea of being, because the person would still be
capable of self-consciousness.

Another central idea in Avicenna is the idea of necessity. All reality is necessary, but this necessity
should be understood properly. A particular object in the world is not necessary of itself. This is
because the essence of a particular existent does not involve its existence. It is a being which comes
into existence and out of existence. At sometime it was not, it came into being, and will finally go
out of being.

A particular being is necessary, though, on account of the fact that its existence is determined by
the necessary action of an external cause. A contingent being, then, is that the existence of which
is due to the action of an external cause, the action of the cause itself being determined.

He concludes from this, therefore, that there cannot be a chain of causes for there would not be a
reason for anything to exist. There must be a first uncaused cause. This uncaused being cannot
receive its existence from another, nor can its existence form part of its essence, since composition
of parts would mean an interior-limiting factor: essence and existence must be identical in the
necessary being.
God, Avicenna observed, is “Pure Act”, unmixed actuality. It proceeds from this that God is Truth,
Goodness, Love and Life. A being which is always in act, without potentiality or privation, must
be absolute goodness and since the divine attributes are ontologically inseparable, the divine

7|Page
goodness must be identical with absolute love. Now, as God is absolute goodness, he necessarily
tends to diffuse his goodness, and this means that he necessarily creates. As God is a necessary
being, all his attributes must be necessary. He is therefore, necessarily creator. This leads to a
further affirmation that creation is from eternity, for if God is necessarily creator, and God is
eternal, creation must be eternal. Again, if God cerates by the necessity of his nature, it follows
too that there is no free choice in creation, God could not create otherwise or other things than the
ones he actually created.

God can produce immediately only a being like himself. It is impossible for God to create material
things directly. God, thus, being a creature, has received existence and this is the beginning of
duality. In the One, there is no duality, while in the Primary Intelligence there’s a duality of essence
and existence. There’s also a duality of knowledge-the primary intelligence knows the One or God
as necessary and itself as “possible.” In this sense, Avicenna deduces the ten intelligences, which
exhibit a growing multiplicity and so bridges the gap between the unity of God and the multiplicity
of creation. The tenth intelligence is the giver of forms received in prime matter. The intelligences
differ in the degree they are proximate to the one.

Apart from giving forms, the tenth intelligence also performs the function of the active intellect in
man. It is this intelligence, which illumines the human mind to form abstract ideas.

Avicenna maintained the immortality of the soul, and sanctions in the after life, though interpreting
them in an intellectualist fashion. Reward consists in the righteous having the knowledge of the
purely intelligible objects; punishment, in the deprivation of such knowledge.
He endeavoured to reconcile the thought of Plato and Aristotle with the revelation of the Koran.
His thought centered around Aristotle and shows some Neo-Platonic influences as well as original
formulations of problems.
Each and every man acquires the notion of being through consciousness and affirmation of his
own existence. Limited, contingent beings are seen to be composed of matter and form, potency
and act, essence and existence. They are caused beings. Matter is the principle of individuation.
God alone is the necessary Being, Pure Act, and first mover. He is the only one in whom essence
is identical with existence. The concentric spheres of the heavens flow from God through creature
participation.
At the summit of this celestial hierarchy is the perfect first Intelligence which produces the first
sphere. It produces also a second, separated intelligence, which produces a third, and this in turn
produces the fourth. Thus there is a gradual descent to the tenth separated Intelligence, the Active
Intellect, the “giver of forms.” This tenth Intelligence functions as the active intellect in man. It
illuminates each human mind and enables each mind to grasp the natures or essences of things.

When Avicenna’s writings were translated into Spanish and then into Latin in the twelfth century,
several of the Latin Scholastics attributed the doctrine of Avicenna to Aristotle himself. The
writings of Avicenna were widely criticized in the Latin West, but his thought was nevertheless
influential in the development of Scholastic philosophy.

Averroes (Ibn Rusd ), 1126-1198 A.D

8|Page
The son of a judge was born in Cordoba. He applied himself to the study of theology,
jurisprudence, medicine, mathematics and philosophy, after which he occupied judicial posts,
becoming also the physician to the Caliph in 1182. He fell in disfavour with Caliph al Mansur and
was banished from the court. He later crossed over to Morocco where he died.

Averroes was convinced that Aristotle was the culmination of the human intellect. He therefore
settled down to writing commentaries on the works of Aristotle. In some commentaries, authors
claim it is difficult to make out what is from Aristotle, from what is Averroes’.

The metaphysical scale reaches from pure matter as the lowest limit to pure Act, God, as the
highest limit, between these limits being the objects of potency and act, which form the natura
naturata. Prime matter is co-eternal with God. God, however, educed the forms of material things
from the potency of pure matter, and created the intelligences, ten in number. More interesting,
though, was Averroes notion of the general relation of philosophy and theology.

Having endorsed Aristotle as the completer of human science, the super model of human perfection
and the author of a system, which is the supreme truth, Averroes had necessarily to attempt to
reconcile this pagan philosopher with the teaching of the orthodox Islamic faith. He tried doing
this by the doctrine of ‘double truth’. He holds that one and the same truth can be understood
clearly in philosophy and expressed allegorically in theology. The scientific formulation of truth
is achieved in philosophy, while in theology the same truth is expressed in a different way. The
picture-teaching of Koran expresses the truth in a manner intelligible to the ordinary man, whereas
the philosopher strips away the allegory and attains the truth, pure and simple. This idea was not
received by orthodox Islamic theology.

Averroes, by this doctrine, had subordinated theology to philosophy, to make the latter the judge
of the former, so that it belongs to the philosopher to decide what theological doctrines need to be
allegorically interpreted and in what meaning the allegories should consist.

The double truth theory has interpreted that Averroes meant that one proposition can be false in
philosophy; while in theology it is true. Authors think, however, that this was just a sarcastic way
of saying that certain theological doctrines are non-sense.

9|Page