12 questions · Philosophy
Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna, was born around 980 near Bukhara (in today's Uzbekistan): one of the most astonishing prodigies in intellectual history: at ten he knew the Quran by heart, at 16 he was treating patients as a physician, and by 18, as he himself reports, he had worked through all the sciences of his age. Only Aristotle's 'Metaphysics' he read forty times without understanding it: until a commentary by the philosopher al-Farabi opened his eyes. His life reads like a novel: as a physician he cured the emir of Bukhara and was rewarded with access to his legendary library; later he served a succession of Persian princes as court physician and even as vizier, was caught between warring factions, sat in prison, fled in disguise and all the while wrote an encyclopaedic body of work, often at night after the day's affairs of state. Two books made him immortal: the 'Canon of Medicine' systematically gathered the entire medical knowledge of his age and remained the standard medical textbook at European universities into the 17th century. And the 'Book of Healing' (despite its title a philosophical work) joined Aristotle with Islamic thought and, through translations, shaped Christian Scholasticism as well: Thomas Aquinas quotes Avicenna extensively. Famous is his thought experiment of the 'flying man': a human created floating in empty space, without any sense perception: even he would be certain of his own self. Self-awareness does not depend on the body; centuries before Descartes' 'Cogito', an argument for the independence of the soul. Did you know that Avicenna also wrote on music, astronomy and alchemy: whose gold-making he exposed as fraud? He died in 1037 in Hamadan; his mausoleum there is a national monument of Iran to this day.
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Ibn Sina
'Avicenna' is the Latinised form under which medieval Europe knew him.
💡 Did you know? In the East he is Ibn Sina; „Avicenna“ is the Latinised form by which Europe knows him.
Bukhara
Then a centre of Perso-Islamic learning on the Silk Road.
💡 Did you know? He was born near Bukhara in present-day Uzbekistan: a centre of Islamic scholarship.
Canon of Medicine
The standard medical textbook at European universities into the 17th century.
💡 Did you know? His „Canon of Medicine“ was a standard textbook at European universities for over 600 years.
Book of Healing
Logic, natural science, mathematics, metaphysics: 'healing' the soul of ignorance.
💡 Did you know? The „Book of Healing“ means healing the soul of ignorance; it is a philosophical encyclopaedia, not a medical book.
physician
Curing the emir of Bukhara opened his legendary library to him.
💡 Did you know? He later served Persian princes as court physician and at times even as vizier.
the flying man
A human created in the void without sense perception would still be certain of his own self: the soul does not depend on the body.
💡 Did you know? His thought experiment: a floating person without any sensory input would still be aware of himself: an early forerunner of Descartes's „I think“.
the Metaphysics
Only a commentary by al-Farabi opened his eyes: in gratitude he gave alms the next day.
💡 Did you know? He read Aristotle's Metaphysics forty times without understanding it: until a commentary by al-Farabi gave him the key.
Scholasticism
Thomas Aquinas quotes him extensively: Avicenna became the bridge between Aristotle and the Latin West.
💡 Did you know? Through Latin translations Avicenna influenced European scholasticism, including Thomas Aquinas.
the Quran
By 18, according to his autobiography, he had worked through all the sciences of his age.
💡 Did you know? By the age of ten he claimed to know the entire Quran by heart and soon surpassed his teachers.
alchemy
Metals could not truly be transmuted into one another: a remarkably sober position for his time.
💡 Did you know? Avicenna doubted that base metals could be turned into gold and exposed alchemy as a delusion.
Hamadan
His mausoleum there is a national monument of Iran to this day.
💡 Did you know? He died in 1037 in Persian Hamadan, where a large mausoleum commemorates him today.
Foto: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Avicenna
Avicenna (Ibn Sina) was a Persian polymath around the year 1000 whose medical and philosophical work shaped East and West for centuries.
💡 Did you know? His „Canon of Medicine“ was required reading at European universities for over 600 years.
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