Peter E. Pormann

Presents a selection of articles that illustrate the intellectual curiosity and theoretical vigour with which Arabs and non-Arabs living in the medieval Muslim world pursued scientific endeavours. The focus is firmly on articles published during the last 20 years, during which the discipline has enjoyed a new bloom.

Islamic Medical and Scientific Tradition

Peter Adamson

Al-Kindī, honoured as the 'philosopher of the Arabs', was the first philosopher of Islam. His pioneer philosophical writings engage with ideas that became available through the Graeco-Arabic translation movement. This volume makes his entire philosophical output-some two dozen works-available in English, most of them for the first time. An overall introduction, introductions to each work and extensive notes explain al-Kindī's ideas, sources, and influence.

The Philosophical Works of al-Kindi

Many of the leading philosophers in the Islamic world were doctors, yielding extensive links between philosophy and medicine. The twelve papers in this volume explore these links, focusing on the classical or formative period (up to the eleventh century AD). One central theme is the Arabic reception of Greek figures who worked on medicine or medical topics, including Hippocrates, Aristotle and Galen. Several of the luminaries of philosophy in the early Islamic world are also studied, including Abū Bakr al-Rāzī, al-Fārābī, and Avicenna. Conversely, the volume also includes research on the use of philosophical ideas in medical authors, including ʿAlī ibn Riḍwān. Attention is also given to the connections between medicine and Islamic theology (kalām). As a whole, the book provides both a survey of the kinds of work being done in this relatively unexplored area, and a springboard for further research.

Medicine and Philosophy in the Formative Period of Islam

Accessible and up-to-date introduction to the legacy of Hippocrates, the man and the writings attributed to him.

The Cambridge Companion to Hippocrates

This study of the reception of Paul of Aegina's handbook (or "pragmateia") in the Syriac and Arabic traditions provides fascinating new insights into Greek-Syriac-Arabic translation techniques and the impact of Greek medical theory on the development of Islamic medicine.

The Oriental Tradition of Paul of Aegina's Pragmateia

The Hippocratic Epidemics and Galen’s Commentary on them constitute milestones in the development of clinical medicine. However, they also illustrate the rich exegetical traditions that existed in the post-classical Greek world. The present volume investigates these texts from various and diverse vantage points: textual criticism; Greek philology; knowledge transfer through translations; and medical history. Especially the Syriac and Arabic traditions of the Epidemics come under scrutiny.

Greek Commentaries on Hippocrates in the Arabic Tradition

Epidemics in Context

Emilie Savage-Smith

The medical tradition that developed in the lands of Islam during the medieval period (c. 650-1500) has, like few others, influenced the fates and fortunes of countless human beings. It is the story of contact and cultural exchange across countries and creeds, affecting caliphs, kings, courtiers, courtesans, and the common crowd. In addition to being fascinating in its own right, it formed the roots from which modern Western medicine arose. Contrary to the stereotypical picture, medieval Islamic medicine was not simply a conduit for Greek ideas, but was a locus for innovation and change.The book is organised around five topics: the emergence of medieval Islamic medicine and its intense cross-pollination with other cultures, the theoretical medical framework, the function of physicians within the larger society, the medical care as seen through preserved case histories, and the role of magic and devout religious invocations in scholarly as well as everyday medicine. A concluding chapter on the 'afterlife' concerns the impact of medieval Islamic medicine upon the European medical tradition and its continued practice today. The aim of this book is not to compress the entire history of medieval Islamic medicine into a single small volume. Rather, it presents an overview, highlighted with particular examples.

Peter E. Pormann

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