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Received Wisdom: The Use of Authority in Medieval Islamic Philosophy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 May 2021

Peter Adamson
Peter Adamson*
Affiliation:
LMU Munich
*
Peter.Adamson@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
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Abstract

In this paper I challenge the notion that medieval philosophy was characterized by strict adherence to authority. In particular, I argue that to the contrary, self-consciously critical reflection on authority was a widespread intellectual virtue in the Islamic world. The contrary vice, called ‘taqlīd’, was considered appropriate only for those outside the scholarly elite. I further suggest that this idea was originally developed in the context of Islamic law and was then passed on to authors who worked within the philosophical tradition.

Type
Papers
Information
Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements , Volume 89: How Do We Know? The Social Dimension of Knowledge , May 2021 , pp. 99 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Philosophy and the contributors 2021

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Footnotes

This paper summarizes themes explored in greater detail in my forthcoming book Don’t Think for Yourself: Authority and Belief in Medieval Philosophy (Notre Dame IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2021). My thanks to Bethany Somma for helpful discussion.

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