Who is your favorite philosopher?

[Naxar Nugaaleed]

that site doesn't even work, so am kinda sure it does not. Muslims inspired Smith's ideas about free market? locke and Rousseau's social contract? that would be enlightening, seriously, citations anyone...

[BiLaaL]

^Try again. The site is now back up.

 

The father of economics isn't Adam Smith but rather Ibn Khaldun. If you don't find the muslim heritage site convicincing enough, then check this liberal site.

[Che -Guevara]

My favorite Muslim is Al-Kindi (Alkindus-Latin version). He studied all subjects as that was case with scholars in the past, but his most philosophical contributions is the arguments against the "infinite past" which was contrary to Aristotle's belief that universe "has infinite past with no beginning".

 

Alkindus along with Saadia ben Joseph and Algazel came with two argument against the infinite past theory.

 

First is "argument from the impossibility of the existence of an actual infinite. This stated:

 

 

"An actual infinite cannot exist."

"An infinite temporal regress of events is an actual infinite."

" An infinite temporal regress of events cannot exist."

 

 

Second is "argument from the impossibility of completing an actual infinite by successive addition" which says:

 

"An actual infinite cannot be completed by successive addition."

"The temporal series of past events has been completed by successive addition."

" The temporal series of past events cannot be an actual infinite."

 

Immanuel Kant adopted the second argument.

 

Al-Kindus

[Che -Guevara]

Here's succinct history of Islamic philosophy.A basic intro to different schools of thought and their take their take on everything from evolution, logic, and metaphyics.

 

The school of thought that had the most influence on Western scholars is Averroism which considered a precursor to secularism since it argued that religion and philosophy must be separated.

 

I would recommend Cara and perhaps Naxar to look little deeper into Averroism..Sorry I couldn't find good citations. Most databases unfortunately require an access.

 

 

As sign of respect for the contributions Averros made to Western thoughts, Raphael included him in the "school of Athens"

 

 

1. Alcibiades (451/0-404/3 B.C.);

2. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.);

3.Averroes (1126-98);

4. Diogenes (412-323 B.C.);

5. Epicurus (341-270 B.C.);

6. Euclid (fl. 300 B.C);

7. Federico II, Duke of Mantua (1500-1540);

8. Francesco Maria della Rovere, Duke of Urbino (1490-1538);

9. Heraclitus (535-475 B.C.);

10. Plato (429-347 B.C.);

11. Ptolemy (fl. 2d century A.D.);

12. Pythagoras (c. 582-c. 507 B.C.);

13. Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520);

14. Socrates (469-399 B.C.);

15. Giovanni Antonio Bazzi Sodoma(1477-1549);

16. Giorgio Vasari (1511-74);

17. Xenophon (c. 430-c. 355 B.C.);

18. Zoroaster (c.628-551 B.C.)

[Che -Guevara]

 

If you can't see him in the above pic

 

 

 

bio

[BiLaaL]

Che, many thanks for delving into this history for us. Your choice of Al-Kindi is a good one.

 

I would caution against Ibn Rushd (Averroes), along with Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Al-Farabi (Alpharabius). Some of Ibn Rushd's ideas were/are at odds with certain tenets of Islamic theology. Al-Ghazali, a critic of Ibn Rushd, is more sound - Islamically.

 

The Muslim Heritage site has a good article, with bibliography, on Al-Kindi.

[Che -Guevara]

Np,

 

Here's another scholar.

 

Economic Theory of Ibn Khaldun and Rise and Fall of Nations

 

pdf

[Paragon]

^Hmm Read that (thanks to Viking) and justly followed by (had to part it to another SOLer - twas costly damn it!) Al-Ghazali's 'Disciplining The Soul': Ihya Ulum Al-Din.

 

But then amusingly...I got this book from the library...couldn't return it.

 

Anyway... its a very interesting read. It really is... I am reading it for the third time and ...TURNS everything upside down. And I like it. It's very amusing.

 

The book is THIS. Full version.

[Che -Guevara]

Thanks for the link!

 

Do you know free link to Ibn Rushd's criticisms of Al-Ghazali's work?

 

 

Sad they don't teach the lineage of many classical economic theories-To student, it seems like economics theories started with Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus,David Ricardo and many others.It goes well beyond these scholars!

 

I had professor that argued Mercantilism which coincided with the rise of the Westphalian nation-states is the oldest economic theory-that somehow no other theories existed before and during feudal Europe.

[xiinfaniin]

^^there is a good link of the works of both men. I will try to find it.

[Naxar Nugaaleed]

che, I know of these classic Muslim philosophers such as Averroës, Al-farabi and Avicenna and admire them very much (I think Al-farabi too but I will have to look again) but I fail to see How they inspired secularism or Laissez-faire economics.

 

Xinn, never claimed adam smith was a father of anything just most influential with ideas of the free market.

[GAAROODI]

Sorry i couldn't reply for a long time, because i was working. It seems Somali's aren't as ****** as there politics. A very interesting debate, i wanna to develop this view of Islams influence on western philosophy. Firstly i want to point out without Islamic philosophy there would be no western philosophy. For example:

 

 

When we look back into history, western europe was dominated by the church to the extent that you had to pay them taxes and pay to get into heavan, this backward illiterate urine drinking society was the society that islam entered when it took over Spain. From the city of Cordoba they established a notion of combebenthia, combebenthia is the notion that all people regardless of religion or race can co-exist and cooperate to work together, when christen,muslim and jewish scholars studied together they created the notion of an individual and his god.

 

The theory of individualism led to other theories, theories about human nature, the right of man, existance. Eventually leading to the rights of man, the interests of man and the interests of the state and religion. These theories took place during the reinassance period. Individualist theories led to the seperation of church and state which in turn led to the creation of secularism.

 

there are alot of examples of how, Islam impacted europe.

 

But one question that is relevant to us as Somali's is how like Islam helped western europe sort it self out, how can western philosophy assist our backward nomadic society?

 

And if it can what philosophers can inspire that change?

[GAAROODI]

See this is how one could use phycology and philosophy to control our savage nomadic societies. Because all humans are the same the same manipulation tactics used in western europe could be recreated in Africa if the condition on the ground can be altered to it.

 

http://video.google. com/videosearch?q=th e%20century%20of%20t he%20self%20part%201 &emb=0&aq=2&oq=the%2 0century%20of%20#

 

Watch it, how Sigmund Froyd screwed western europe...how you are controled without you not realising it.

[GAAROODI]

people are free if they assume they are free they dont have to be free as long as they tink they are free thats all that counts. To do this minipulate the unconcious.

[5]

I don't have a favourite philosopher, I'm leaning towards Jacaylbaro on this, but I'm going to take part in the name-dropping and I'm going to do it my way, which is the wrong way, and I'm going to give a name which is not a philosopher's: Charles le Gai Eaton.

 

There are a lot of guys I've read but I really like my own thinking, and I don't care how conceited this sounds. There is nothing more I enjoy than thinking on my way somewhere, and it has proved so fruitful on so many occasions.