PY4676 Islamic Philosophy

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Planned timetable

TBC

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr D N Ball

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

Is reason always opposed to faith? Is prophecy incompatible with a naturalistic account of knowledge? Must we believe in God without having rational proof? Between the 9th and 12th centuries, a powerful tradition of philosophy and rational theology developed in the Islamic world which took the answer to each of these questions to be ‘no’. This module will explore some of the central philosophical problems of this tradition, along with solutions to those problems offered by its most influential thinkers, such as al- Kindī, Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna), al-Ghazālī, and Ibn Rushd (Averroes). Topics may include: reason and revelation, essence and existence, arguments for God’s existence, knowledge, logic, the constitution of material objects, the eternity or non-eternity of the world, causality, the self, the properties of God, prophecy, miracles, free will and determinism, the problem of evil, the possibility of moral knowledge, the nature of moral properties, philosophy of law, and mysticism.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS PY1012

Assessment pattern

Coursework - 100%

Re-assessment

Coursework - 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

One 2-hour lecture and one 1-hour seminar weekly

Scheduled learning hours

33

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

259

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • demonstrate an awareness of some of the central thinkers and ideas of the Islamic philosophical tradition.
  • interpret primary texts (in translation) of Islamic philosophy and evaluate whether those texts offer plausible solutions or insights to problems in contemporary philosophy.
  • critically engage with secondary literature to inform their interpretations of Islamic philosophical texts.
  • articulate and defend their own views of philosophical problems and solutions offered by Islamic writers both orally and in writing.