Philosophers
Аl-Faràbi, Abu Nasr
(872-950)
Persian Islamic
neoplatonist who employed Aristotelian logic in support of his arguments for
the existence of god and used Plato's
Republic as the model for
his own description of civil society in Principles
of Citizens of the Virtuous City.
Ibn Sina, Abù'Alì al-Husayn (980-1037)
Persian Islamic
philosopher and physician whose Kitab
Al-Shifa (Book
of Healing)
commented on the philosophy of Aristotle.
As a leading neoplatonist, Ibn Sina emphasized the causal necessity that
characterizes emanations from the divine, but supposed that human knowledge can
best be achieved by mystical illumination.
Neoplatonism
Philosophical system developed by
Plotinus and others. Nominally derived from Plato's
metaphysics, neoplatonic philosophy regards the natural world as a series of
emanations from the nature of god. During most of the medieval period, this
system was the most influential version of Plato's thought.
Aristotelianism
A tradition, dating
from the medieval period, concerned with promoting and defending significant
portions of the philosophy of Aristotle.