Logica Algazelis Introduction and Critical Text

Abstract

The (‘The Meanings of the Philosophers’) of Abū al-Ghazālī († 1111) is the first part of a composite work in which the author — the theologian of Islam par excellence — takes a considered stand with regard to the teachings of the philosophers, especially al-Fārābī and Ibn Sīnā. In the first part his purpose is simply the presentation of their doctrines in logic, metaphysics and physics. The second part, the famous Tahāfut al-falāsifa (‘The Incoherence of the Philosophers’), aims at exposing their self-contradictions on many points — the eternity of the world, God's knowledge of singulars, etc.