Work · Philosophy in the Islamic World
Book of Definitions
Collection of definitions of philosophical terms – philosophy, wisdom, intellect, soul, nature, reason, love – largely drawn from al-Kindi’s treatise on definitions; it survives mainly in Latin and Hebrew translation and was quoted by scholastic authors, among them Thomas Aquinas.
Introduction
Isaac Israeli’s “Book of Definitions” is a short reference work of philosophical terms written in Arabic in Kairouan in the early tenth century. Only fragments of the Arabic survive; the text is known mainly from a Latin translation of the twelfth century and from Hebrew versions. It defines terms such as philosophy, wisdom, intellect, soul, nature, spirit, reason, love and truth, and many of its entries follow al-Kindi’s treatise “On the Definitions and Descriptions of Things” closely. Its six definitions of philosophy, among them likening oneself to the works of the Creator as far as human capacity allows, and “knowledge of oneself”, go back through al-Kindi to the late Greek commentators. The Latin version circulated widely among scholastic authors, who quoted its definitions; Thomas Aquinas attributes to it the definition of truth as the adequation of thing and intellect, which it does not contain. Alexander Altmann and Samuel Stern edited and commented on it in 1958.
More works by Isaac Israeli
- c. 920Book of Elements
Sources: Wikidata
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