ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY (Two Volumes)

ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY (Two Volumes) This two volume work fulfils a long felt need of an authentic work on Islamic philosophy rooted in the rich intellectual tradition of Islam. Maintaining the highest standards of scholarship it testifies to the fact that Islamic philosophy in fact addresses the concerns that are important to the present mindset and which have a universal significance. Islamic philosophy has often been treated as mainly of historical interest, belonging to the history of ideas rather than to philosophy. These volumes challenge this belief. The Encyclopaedia of Islamic Philosophy is made up entirely of new essays by a distinguished list of writers. They provide detailed discussions of the most important thinkers and the key concepts in Islamic philosophy, from earliest times right up to the present day, as well as a series of discussions of the cultural and religious background. Fifty authors from over sixteen different countries have contributed to this book, and they were chosen not only for their particular expertise but also in order to allow a wide variety of views to be represented. No interpretation of Islamic philosophy has been excluded, and accurate indication of the state of the art is presented through the contributions of the authors as a whole. This is an unusually wide-ranging collection that includes analysis of Islamic philosophy in the Arabic, Persian, Indian, Turkish and South East Asian worlds as well as Jewish philosophy, together with extensive discussion of relevant areas of Greek and Western Philosophy. An important but so far little understood philosophical tradition is clearly and thoroughly explored in these volumes. Islamic philosophy comes to be seen as a continuing and lively philosophical activity, one which is just as capable of asking relevant questions today as it was in the past. These volumes include: • Detailed discussions of the most important figures from the earliest times to the present day • Chapters on key concepts in Islamic philosophy, and on related traditions in Greek and Western philosophy • Contributions by fifty leading experts in the field, frcim over sixteen countries • Analysis of a vast geographical area with discussions of Islamic philosophy in the Arab, Persian, Indian, Turkish and South East Asian worlds as well as Jewish philosophy • Comprehensive bibliographical information and an extensive index