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Definitions lie at the heart of logic and philosophy. In the Islamicate tradition, they were not merely linguistic instruments but cognitive and metaphysical tools meant to bridge conception (taṣawwur) and demonstration (al-qiyās). For many thinkers, knowledge itself was impossible without definitions. Yet this conviction—so central to Aristotelian and Avicennian logic—provoked extensive criticism. The aim of this tutorial is to investigate some aspects of these developments starting from Ibn Sina (Avicenna), moving to his critics and defenders in post-classical Islamicate philosophy. We will be mainly working with primary sources, for which I will provide translated excerpts to facilitate discussion.
Definitions lie at the heart of logic and philosophy. In the Islamicate tradition, they were not merely linguistic instruments but cognitive and metaphysical tools meant to bridge conception (taṣawwur) and demonstration (al-qiyās). For many thinkers, knowledge itself was impossible without definitions. Yet this conviction—so central to Aristotelian and Avicennian logic—provoked extensive criticism. The aim of this tutorial is to investigate some aspects of these developments starting from Ibn Sina (Avicenna), moving to his critics and defenders in post-classical Islamicate philosophy. We will be mainly working with primary sources, for which I will provide translated excerpts to facilitate discussion.
1st Session
1st Session
Many Islamicate logicians defended the need for definitions based on the following argument: a conceptualization (taṣawwur) is either necessary (ḍarūrī) or theoretical (naẓarī). The former is extremely limited and cannot generate knowledge. However, the latter is the basis of all theoretical knowledge, which cannot be attained except through definitions. On the first day, we will examine Ibn Sīnā’s analysis of the nature and function of definition across several of his works, including The Book of Demonstration (Kitāb al-Burhān), Pointers and Reminders (Al-Ishārāt wa-l-Tanbīhāt), and related treatises. Our focus will be on understanding how definitions serve as the foundation for scientific and demonstrative reasoning in Avicenna’s logical system.
Many Islamicate logicians defended the need for definitions based on the following argument: a conceptualization (taṣawwur) is either necessary (ḍarūrī) or theoretical (naẓarī). The former is extremely limited and cannot generate knowledge. However, the latter is the basis of all theoretical knowledge, which cannot be attained except through definitions. On the first day, we will examine Ibn Sīnā’s analysis of the nature and function of definition across several of his works, including The Book of Demonstration (Kitāb al-Burhān), Pointers and Reminders (Al-Ishārāt wa-l-Tanbīhāt), and related treatises. Our focus will be on understanding how definitions serve as the foundation for scientific and demonstrative reasoning in Avicenna’s logical system.
2nd Session
2nd Session
The second session will turn to the major challenges raised by post-Avicennian thinkers, most notably Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī. His criticisms, which span epistemological and metaphysical domains, question the necessity and coherence of genus–differentia definitions.
The second session will turn to the major challenges raised by post-Avicennian thinkers, most notably Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī. His criticisms, which span epistemological and metaphysical domains, question the necessity and coherence of genus–differentia definitions.
3rd Session
3rd Session
The final session will be devoted to the responses of Avicenna’s defenders, particularly Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, who directly challenges al-Rāzī’s critiques and reaffirms the possibility of a complete definition.
The final session will be devoted to the responses of Avicenna’s defenders, particularly Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, who directly challenges al-Rāzī’s critiques and reaffirms the possibility of a complete definition.
References
References
Al-Rāzī, Fakhr al-Dīn. Al-Manṭiq al-Kabīr. Edited by Ṭūrghān ʿUwān Yūz. Reviewed by ʿAlī Durusūy. Beirut: Dār Fāris, 2022.
Al-Rāzī, Fakhr al-Dīn. Al-Manṭiq al-Kabīr. Edited by Ṭūrghān ʿUwān Yūz. Reviewed by ʿAlī Durusūy. Beirut: Dār Fāris, 2022.
———. Muḥaṣṣal afkār al-mutaqaddimīn wa-l-mutaʾakhkhirīn min al-ʿulamāʾ wa-l-ḥukamāʾ wa-l-mutakallimīn. Edited by Ḥusayn Atay. Cairo: al-Maktaba al-Azhariyya li-l-Turāth, 1991.
———. Muḥaṣṣal afkār al-mutaqaddimīn wa-l-mutaʾakhkhirīn min al-ʿulamāʾ wa-l-ḥukamāʾ wa-l-mutakallimīn. Edited by Ḥusayn Atay. Cairo: al-Maktaba al-Azhariyya li-l-Turāth, 1991.
Al-Ṭūsī, Naṣīr al-Dīn. Talkhīṣ al-Muḥaṣṣal al-maʿrūf bi-Naqd al-Muḥaṣṣal. Beirut: Dār al-Aḍwāʾ, 1985.
Al-Ṭūsī, Naṣīr al-Dīn. Talkhīṣ al-Muḥaṣṣal al-maʿrūf bi-Naqd al-Muḥaṣṣal. Beirut: Dār al-Aḍwāʾ, 1985.
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