#avincenna

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History of Philosophy: Philosophy of Educations

The philosophy of education examines concepts such as the nature of education, types of education, what should be included in curriculum, whether education should focus on beliefs or critical thinking, as well as the relationship between education and power. Determining the aim of and problems of education also fall within the realm of the philosophy of education. Though there is 'wide agreement on the general topics discussed in the philosophy of education, it has proven difficult to give a precise definition of it'. It can be divided into descriptive and normative, or the 'standards of what people ought' to learn, or by the topics discussed, such as sex education, aesthetic education, religious education, or professional education, or by geographic area, such as 'western versus non-western and "global south" perspectives'.

Plato laid out his idea of educational philosophy in the Republic, positing that the 'individual was best served by being subordinate to a just society due to a shift in the emphasis that departed from his predecessors' who considered the mind and body to be two separate entities. Plato wrote '[w]hen the soul and body are united, then nature orders the soul to rule and govern, and the body to obey and serve', comparing that relationship to the relationship of the mortal and the divine. He advocated for children to be removed 'from their mothers' care and raising them as wards of the state, with great care to be taken to differentiate children suitable to the various castes, the highest receiving the most education so that they could act as guardians of the city and care for the less able'. He also believed that 'talent was distributed non-genetically and thus must be found in children born in any social class'. He felt that '[e]lementary education would be confined to the guardian class till the age of 18, followed by two years of compulsory military training and then by higher education for those who qualified', regardless of gender. Another selection would be made at age 30 for another five years of education, which would then be followed by a series of junior positions so that the practical and theoretical education of the highest learners ended around age 50.

Most of Aristotle's treatise On Education are missing, so most of what we know of what his philosophy was, but we know he 'considered human nature, habit and reason to be equally important forces to be cultivated in education', so he felt repetition was important for learning and developing good habits and the teacher was 'to lead the student systematically', which differed from Socrates' emphasis on questioning learners, though 'the comparison is perhaps incongruous since Socrates was dealing with adults'. He also 'placed great emphasis on balancing the theoretical and practical aspects of subjects taught' and that '[o]ne of education's primary missions…,perhaps its most important, was to produce good and virtuous citizens for the polis'.

Avicenna held that children should be educated from the age of 6 through 14 in the basics, which he considered to be 'Qur'an, Islamic metaphysics, language, literature, Islamic ethics, and manual skills (which could refer to a variety of practical skills)', After the age of 14, he felt that students should be allowed a 'choice to choose and specialize in subjects they have an interest in, whether it was reading, manual skills, literature, preaching, medicine, geometry, trand and commerce, craftsmanship, or any other subject or profession they would be interested in pursuing for a future career' as this time of life was 'a transitional stage and that there needs to be flexibility regarding the age in which pupils graduate, as the student's emotional development and chosen subjects need to be taken into account'. He also developed the 'tabula rasa' or 'blank slate' theory writing 'human intellect at birth is rather like a tabula rasa, a pure potentiality that is actualized through education and comes to know'.

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History of Philosophy: Avincenna

By Turalhemidli - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32173767

Avincenna, the Latinization of Ibn Sīnā ابن سين, more fully known as Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn bin ʿAbdallāh bin al-Ḥasan bin ʿAlī bin Sīnā al-Balkhī al-Bukhārī rī أبو علي الحسين بن عبد الله بن الحسن بن علي بن سينا البلخي البخاري, was an Islamic philosopher who lived from about 980-22 June 1037 CE and was considered a 'seminal figure of the Islamic Golden Age' and wrote about 450 works on philosophy, medicine, various sciences including astronomy, geography, physics, and geology, alchemy, Islamic theology, mathematics, and poetry in Arabic and Persian, of which about 240 have survived, 150 on philosophy and 40 on medicine.

Born in a village in Transoxiana in modern day eastern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan to a Persian family, Avincinna was taught the Quran and other literature at first, memorizing the Quran by the age of 10. His father then sent him to learn arithmetic with an Indian greengrocer and then to study law with Ismail al-Zahid, then later brought in physician and philosopher al-Natili to teach Avicenna, so that by the time Avincenna was 17, he was a physician and when he was 18, he was 'well-educated in Greek sciences'. When he was 21, his father died and he received his father's administrative post as governor of Harmaytan. At some point later, out of 'necessity', he moved to Khwarazm, though exactly when is uncertain, though he served Abu al-Hasan, who ruled from 997-1009, so it had to have been during that period, possibly in 999 when the Samanid empire fell. With his connections to the Saminids, Avincenna would have been in a bad position after they fell.

In 1012, Avincenna moved again out of 'necessity' with plans to visit the ruler of Gorgan, Ziyarid Qabus, who was known to be a patron of scholars, but arrived after his death, so he went to Dihistan but returned to Gorgan when he became ill. He met Abu 'Ubayd al-Juzjani, who became a student and companion to him during this time. He briefly served Qabus' son and successor, Manuchihr, staying with a patron during the time. In 1014, he went to Ray, in modern day Tehran province, Iran, serving Byuid amir Majd al-Dawla and his mother Sayyida Shirin, who was the 'de facto ruler of the realm'. He served as court physician, 'treating Majd al-Dawla, who was suffering from melancholia' as well as 'business manager' for Sayyida Shirin. He completed his The Canon of Medicine during this time and began The Book of Healing.

In 1015, Avincenna engaged in a public debate with Abu'l-Qasim al-Kirmani, a member of the school of philosophers of Baghdad, that became heated with Avinceena 'accusing Abu'lQasim of lack of basic knowledge in logic, while Abu'l-Qasim accused ibn Sina of impoliteness'. After this, Avincenna wrote to the Baghdad Peripatetics to see if they shared the same opinion as Abu'l-Qasim, which prompted Abu'l-Qasim to write a letter making accusations against Avincenna and prompting Avincenna to write Abu Sa'd, deputy of Majd al-Dawla to investigate. It is possible that the accusations were those of 'copying the stylistic structure of the Quran in his Sermons on Divine Unity', which was of a seriousness that 'cannot be underestimated in the larger Muslim culture'.

Perhaps due to Abu'l-Qasim's working for Sayyida Shirin, Avincenna switched his allegiances to the Buyid amir Shams al-Dawla, Majd al-Dawla's younger brother, but after a campaign against Annazid ruler Abu Shawk, to whom Avincenna had been sent to treat, Avincenna was pressed into service as Shams al-Dawla's vizier, even though he didn't always get along with Shams al-Dawla's troops, until Shams al-Dawla's death in 2021. He was asked to remain vizier for Shams al-Dawla's, but Avincenna declined and 'went into hiding with his patron, Abu Ghalib al-Attar, to wait for better opportunities to emerge', though he was 'secretly in contact with Ala al-Dawal Muhammad ([who reigned from] 1008-1041), the Kakuyid rular of Isfahan and uncle of Sayyida Shirin'. During this time, Avincenna finished The Book of Healing, 'writing 50 pages a day' to do so. Suspected of corroborating with Ala al-Dawla and he was imprisoned four months until Ala al-Dawla ended Sama al-Dawla's reign.

When he was released, he went to Isahan, where Ala al-Dawla gave him 'the respect and esteem which someone like him deserved' and the time 'proved to be the most stable period of his life' as Avincenna was advisor or vizier for Ala al-Dawla, going with him during travels and military expeditions. In 1037, during a military campaign, Avicenna developed a colic, a pain that was the result of a an obstruction of a smooth muscle passageway, such as the intestines, the ureters between the kidneys, or the bile duct, as the muscles try to force the obstruction out, that can also cause nausea, sweating, and vomiting, and he died shortly thereafter.

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History of Philosophy: Arabic-Persian Philosophy

By Iraqi Post - Personal collection, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=91832934

Arabic-Persian philosophy, also known as Islamic philosophy, arouse around the beginning of the 9th century CE, approximately 200 years after the death of Muhammad, continuing through the Islamic Golden Age, approximately the late 12th century CE. It began with the 'translation and interpretation of Ancient Greek philosophy', which also preserved the Greek philosopher's writings for the Western world, and then was shaped by Avincenna's 'comprehensive philosophical system'.

Early Arabic-Persian philosophy was grounded mostly in ancient Greek philosophy, primarily Aristotle and Plato's schools within the framework of Islamic revelation. Modern scholarship also seeks to tease apart the theology (kalam) and 'philosophy proper' (falsafa), with theology focused only on 'religious topics, such as proofs of the existence of God. Philosophers, on the other hand, investigated a broader range of topics, including those not directly covered by the scriptures'. Islamic philosophers were focused on 'rational inquiry and examined how to harmonize reason and revelation'.

Al-Kindi, or more fully Abū Yūsuf Yaʻqūb ibn ʼIsḥāq aṣ-Ṣabbāḥ al-Kindī يوسف يعقوب بن إسحاق الصبّاح الكندي, who lived from 801-873 CE, is widely considered the first Arabic-Persian philosopher 'in contrast to the more theological works of his predecessors' and built off of Aristotle's works, especially 'regarding metaphysics as the first philosophy and the highest science' with 'metaphysics study[ing] the essence and attributes of God'. He argued for dualism between the immortal soul and the mortal body.

Al-Kindi was followed by al-Farabi, or more fully Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi أبو نصر محمد الفارابي, who lived from about 870-950, claimed 'that philosophy, rather than theology, is the best pathway to truth' with a focus on logic that gained him the title 'the Second Master', the first being Aristotle. He felt that 'logic is universal and forms the foundation of all language and thought, a view that contrasts with certain passages in the Quran that assign this role to Arabic grammar'. He endorsed Plato's philosopher-king ideal, though he also broke 'with the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle […and…] moves from metaphysics to methodology, a move that anticipates modernity…at the level of philosophy, Farabi unites theory and practice […and] in the sphere of the political he liberates practice from theory'. He helped pave the way for Avincenna.

Avincenna, or Ibn Sīnā ابن سينا, or more fully ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn bin ʿAbdallāh bin al-Ḥasan bin ʿAlī bin Sīnā al-Balkhī al-Bukhārī أبو علي الحسين بن عبد الله بن الحسن بن علي بن سينا البلخي البخاري, lived about from 980-1037 CE, and was a philosopher and physician. He also contributed to astronomy, alchemy, psychology, logic, mathematics, geography and geology, and physics as well as leaving works of poetry. His philosophy derived from Aristotle through the Peripatetic school that encouraged members to conduct philosophical and scientific inquiries. he was educated in the Quran and multiple works of philosophy in his youth and then trained to be a physician. As with those who went before him, he sought to understand the difference between essence (māhiya ماهية) and existence (wujūd وجود), arguing that 'the fact of existence cannot be inferred from or accounted for by essence of existing things, and that form and matter by themselves cannot interact and originate the movement of the universe or the progressive actualization of existing things. Existence must, therefore be due to an agent-cause that necessitates, imparts, gives, or adds existence to an essence. To do so, the cause must be an existing thing and coexists with its effect'. In the field of psychology, Avincenna felt that souls 'as substances that give life to beings' and that all living things had souls, from plants, with the simplest through to animals, including humans, whose souls 'have additional faculties, such as the ability to move, sense, and think rationally'. He taught adherence to the teachings of the Quran was the way to achieve moral perfection.

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History of Philosophy: Thought Experiments

While the phrase 'thought experiment' is relatively new, a calque, or directly translated borrowing, of the German Gedankenexperiment, which was coined around 1812, the concept goes back to ancient Greece, where it was called deiknymi δείκνυμι, which is translated now as 'thought experiment'. A thought experiment allows for a theory or argument to be tested when it is either impossible or unethical to conduct the experiment, or when the theory or argument is too abstract to perform a physical experiment. Perhaps the first recorded use of thought experiments were for mathematical proofs by Euclid, who lived around 300 BCE.

There are several well-known philosophical thought experiments as it is a way of eliciting and training intuition or reasoned responses to how things occur in the thought experiment, as well as helping those partaking in the experiment understand the theory they're interrogating. Universal agreement about these intuitions are generally the expected results, sometimes appealing to 'what we should say' to direct the developing intuition. A successful experiment is one that has 'widely shared' intuitions, though philosophers often enter into conversations with each other about their interpretations of these experiments.

Plato's allegory of the cave is one of the early written thought experiments that seeks to compare 'the effect of education (παιδεία) and the lack of it on our nature', which can be found in Plato's Republic as a conversation between Plato's brother Glaucon and Socrates, with Socrates narrating the scenario. In it, 'people who have spent their entire lives chained by their necks and ankles in front of an inner wall with a view of the empty outer wall of the cave. They observe the shadows projected onto the outer wall by objects carried behind the inner wall by people who are invisible to the chained "prisoners" and who walk along the inner wall with a fire behind them, creating shadows on the inner wall in front in front of the prisoners. The "sign bearers" pronounce the names of objects, the sounds of which are reflected near the shadows and are understood by the prisoners as if they were coming from the shadows themselves', with the 'philosopher like a prisoner freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not the direct source of the images seen' and then they try to understand higher levels of reality, but the prisoners are content to remain where they are.

Zeno of Elea, who lived around 490-430 BCE, before Plato, was well known for his thought experiments, but most of those come to us through other philosophers, including Plato, and many of his thought experiments result in paradoxes which 'challenge the notions of plurality (the existence of many things), motion, space, and time by suggesting they lead to logical contradictions', with forty that have reached us through second-hand accounts. As Aristotle recounts, the Dichotomy argument, also known as the Race Course paradox, or 'that which is in locomotion must arrive at the half-way stage before it arrives at the goal' and as there are an infinite number of half-way stages, Zeno maintains it is impossible to complete a course, and makes it also impossible to begin the trip as the finite distance needs to be divided into infinite halves, so the trip cannot even begin, thus motion is an illusion.

Avincenna also used thought experiments, particularly one known as the 'floating man'—or more literally 'falling man'—which was to 'demonstrate human self-awareness and the substantiality and immateriality of the soul'. In it, the reader is told 'to imagine themselves created all at once while suspended in the air, isolated from all sensations, which includes no sensory contact with their own bodies'. His argument is that someone in this scenario 'would still have self-consciousness', that 'it is conceivable that a person, suspended in air while cut off from sense experience, would still be capable of determining his own existence, the thought experiment points to the conclusions that the soul is a perfection, independent of the body, and an immaterial substance…indicat[ing] that the soul is perceived intellectually, which entails the soul's separateness from the body'. He 'referred to the living human intelligence, particularly, the active intellect, which he believed to be the hypostasis [a transformation of a predicate into a relationship; for example "Honey is sweet" is transformed into "Honey has sweetness"] by which God communicates truth to the human mind and imparts order and intelligibility to nature'.

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I bought this record while I was briefly living in Rochester in 1995. I blinked and suddenly 17 years have vanished from my life. But it's still beautiful.