Public selection for n.1 post doctoral fellow position with Incarico post-doc in "The Logic of the Encyclopedia of Philosophy in Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā)"

Profile:

In the framework of the Research Grant FIS 2021 “SPACE: The System of Philosophy in Arabic: Charting the Encyclopaedias”, the selected post-doc collaborators will provide a structural and doctrinal analysis of a representative sample of the encyclopedias of philosophy written by Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā, d. 1037), the champion of Arabic-Islamic philosophy in its formative phase and inventor of the literary genre of the philosophical summa. Special attention will be devoted to Avicenna’s masterpiece Kitāb al-Šifāʾ (Book of the Cure /Healing), an integrated collection of 22 treatises (of logic, 9; natural philosophy, 8; mathematics, 4; and metaphysics, with an appendix on practical philosophy) of more than 5000 printed pages, which will serve as meter of comparison with two other minor summae of Avicenna – al-Ḥikma al-ʿArūḍiyya (Philosophy for ʿArūḍī) and the Dānešnāme-ye ʿAlāʾī (Book of Science for ʿAlāʾ ad-Dawla), chosen for their chronological and linguistic relevance. Main goal of the research scholarships is the analysis of these encylopedias from the point of view of their format and arrangement, with special focus on the systematic interrelation of the distinct philosophical sciences constituting them, and on the structure of the encyclopedia of philosophy underlying them. The privileged focus of attention will be the logic sections of these summae.

Activity:

The contract holder will deal with the following topics, in synergy with the further personnel hired in the framework of FIS project SPACE. I) A systematic search of the references to authors/works/disciplines that can be found in the logic of the Šifāʾ, in the form of: i) quotations of authors and works; ii) “internal” cross-references connecting the various parts of the work; iii) expressions used by Avicenna to refer to philosophical and scientific disciplines and their performers, as well as to the corresponding canonical texts in the ancient tradition. The aim is to grasp from Avicenna’s own words his consideration of authors, fields, and topics relevant to the structuring of the Šifāʾ. II) A comparison of the results obtained in the case of the Šifāʾ with the data obtainable from al-Ḥikma al-ʿArūḍiyya and the Dānešnāme-ye ʿAlāʾī, with the possibility of extending the analysis to Avicenna’s great encyclopedia of medicine, the Qānūn fī l-Ṭibb (Canon of Medicine). III) An assessment, with recourse to the manuscripts of Avicenna available in the databases of IMT, of the philological correctness of the various passages of the Šifāʾ considered. IV) A mapping, through techniques of digital humanities and with the assistance of specialized technical personnel, of the number and frequency of Avicenna’s various kinds of quotations in the distinct parts of the Šifāʾ and in the other works of Avicenna considered, sorting references similar to one another, and matching Avicenna’s references to other authors/works with corresponding passages in available database of works of authors whom Avicenna might have had in mind.

Duration:

12 months

Gross amount:

€ 28.283,00 per year

Formal requirements:

• PhD in related fields;
• The contract holders should possess a solid command of Arabic thought, with special reference to Avicenna's logic and the history of Arabic-Islamic logic;
• Solid command of Arabic. Fluency in English. Acquaintance with Persian and familiarity with the tools of digital analysis of texts will be considered valuable complementary skills.

SSD:

PHIL-05/C - Storia della filosofia medievale