final phil porject

The podcast discusses the lives and ideas of two influential Islamic philosophers: Abbasidda and Al-Ghazi. Abbasidda was a polymath who emphasized reason and logic in understanding the world, while Al-Ghazi focused on spiritual experience and faith. They had different views on metaphysics, with Abbasidda arguing for the existence of the soul and a necessary being, and Al-Ghazi believing that God's existence was incomprehensible through reason alone. They also differed in their approach to the relationship between philosophy and religion, with Abbasidda seeing them as complementary and Al-Ghazi emphasizing the importance of religious faith. Despite their differences, both philosophers made significant contributions to Islamic philosophy. Hello everyone and welcome to a Medieval Times podcast where we dive into the minds of history's greatest thinkers of their time. Today we embark on a philosophical journey comparing two of Islam's most iconic influential philosophers, Abbasidda and Al-Ghazi. I will start my podcast off with the topic of comparing two philosophers, Abbasidda and Al-Ghazi, and their backgrounds. Both of these philosophers belong to the same time period and cultural background, so this is going to be an interesting debate slash topic. I'm your host, Jemilla Snells, and let's dive into the world of many ideas. Abbasidda and Al-Ghazi both lived during the Islamic Golden Age. Their contributions to philosophy, theology, and science have left a very memorable mark on the world. Abbasidda was a polymath whose writings covered everything from metaphysics to medicine. He was born in 980 CE in what is known as Uzbekistan now. He created the well-known flying man argument which maintains that consciousness exists apart from the physical body. The Book of Healing, one of Abbasidda's greatest intellectual works, served as a foundation for his metaphysics philosophy, or Abdiyussanism. Simplifying Abbasidda's thought process would need combining precise observation, reasoned deduction, and a profound understanding of all knowledge. To learn more or speak more about Abbasidda as a person, I will talk about how he felt about medicine and illness. To him, in order to comprehend diseases, he underlined the significance of closely observing symptoms and the body's response to different medications. He not only wanted medications to give to people, but he wanted to prevent having to give medicine by care through food and lifestyle changes, and felt that the best treatments were those that address the underlying causes of the illnesses that people were feeling, as well as their symptoms. He was one that thought it was very important to take care of your body along with your mind. To get back into philosophy, Abbasidda aimed to provide a methodical and clear explanation of difficult concepts. He frequently investigated issues like existence, the nature of the soul, and the connection between the material and spiritual realms using reasoning and different thought experiments. In general, Abbasidda approached study with a very big curiosity and desire for knowledge, and a commitment to using logic and proof to understanding the world around us. His ability to bridge different cultures helped shape his legacy as one of history's greatest thinkers. Al-Ghazali, on the other hand, was a theologian and mystic who was born in Persia in 1058 CE, and worked to bring Islamic theology and philosophy together. He wanted them to conjoin. His major works, The Incoherence of Philosophers, refuted Abbasidda and other well-known philosophers' philosophical positions, arguing that reason is insufficient to arrive at the ultimate truth concerning the great divine. Al-Ghazali's intellectual ideas were profoundly influenced by Islamic spirituality and theology. He discussed a range of philosophical concepts that were popular at the time, especially those put out by Greek philosophers, but he also criticized elements of Greek philosophy that he believed to be at odds or against different Islamic beliefs. Those beliefs were very important to him and his way of life, and how he saw life. Al-Ghazali's examination of doubt and skepticism is one of his most important philosophical contributions. He wrote a great deal in his autobiography book, The Deliverance from Error, about his own conversion from skepticism to faith. He discussed his battle with philosophical skepticism and his eventual decision to bring religion and reason together in his work. While he did acknowledge the value of applying reason to comprehend the universe around us, Al-Ghazali issued a warning against depending just on reason to realize realities that transcend the material world that we see. He maintained that reason had its limits and that direct experience and spiritual intuition are the greatest ways to understand some parts of life, especially those parts related to faith and spirituality. He thought that you had to experience this all firsthand. Al-Ghazali criticized the philosophical theories of scholars like Abbas Eno in his work, The Incoherence of Philosophers. Focusing on the conceptions of metaphysics, causation, and the existence of God, he maintained that some of their ideas, particularly those pertaining to God's attributions and the Apsalites, were very conflicting with Islamic theology. Overall, Al-Ghazali's philosophy is best described as a combination of mysticism, Islamic theology, and critical engagement with philosophical concepts of the day. He aimed to reconcile faith and reason, highlighting the value of spiritual insight in addition to scholarly investigation. With this being said, you could see how Al-Ghazali and Abbas Eno kind of butted heads in the way that they thought about the world around us and just how they compared like faith and reason to each other. The views of Al-Ghazali and Abbas Eno regarding the nature of reality and the existence of God differed very greatly. They were on different sides of the spectrum in the way that they thought. Inspired by the philosophy of Aristotle, Abbas Eno held to the idea that there was a necessary being, the first gods, he associated with God. He emphasized reasoned inquiry as the root to knowledge while arguing for the soul's existence and immortality. Al-Ghazali, on the other hand, valued religious experience and faith over reason. Even if he acknowledged the importance of reason, he criticized the notion of a necessary being, claiming that God's existence is incomprehensible to humans. We just couldn't comprehend it. Al-Ghazali highlighted the value of spiritual traditions in achieving real knowledge and comprehension of God. Overall, I have given you a lot of information on both of them and how they thought. Now I'm going to dive into three main differences in the ways that they thought so we can get more in-depth. The first main difference I will talk about as I have mentioned earlier is their approach to philosophy. Abbas Eno was primarily a philosopher-scientist who thought to apply reason and logic to understand the natural world and metaphysical truths. He was deeply influenced by Greek philosophy, particularly the works of Aristotle and Plato, and he was able to integrate their ideas into a way that it made sense in Islamic thought. Overall, Abbas Eno was a science man. Al-Ghazali's approach to philosophy, on the other hand, was a theologian and mystic who emphasized the importance of spiritual experience and intuition. As I said before, yes, he did agree with some parts of Greek philosophy, but he also did critique certain parts of it, particularly its emphasis on reason and logic as the sole meaning of attaining knowledge. He argued for the primacy of faith and spiritual insight. Al-Ghazali was a very spiritual person, and out of all his teachings, faith was above all. But for Abbas Eno, it was more reason and logic. It was very clear that they had different views on what they thought was most important in their writings. Another big difference that they had was their views on metaphysics. Abbas Eno developed a sophisticated metaphysical system that included his famous theory of the flying man as a thought experiment to demonstrate the existence of the soul as distinct from the body. He believed the soul was very separated from the human body. He also believed that all existence emanates from a single necessary being. Obviously, that necessary being was identified as God. On the other hand, Al-Ghazali critiqued Abbas Eno's views on metaphysics a lot. To be more specific, his concept of the necessary existence. Al-Ghazali argued that God's existence cannot be proven through reason alone, and that the true knowledge of God could only be attained through your own spiritual experience. He believed that learning about the existence of God was not something that you could just teach or prove, but something that you had to feel and experience on your own. Lastly, their biggest difference, which I feel like I've said multiple times is their role of religion. Abbas Eno's philosophy was deeply informed by his Islamic faith. With that being said, he very much believed that philosophy and religion could complement each other with reason and logic leading to a deeper understanding of different religious truths. But like I said before, Al-Ghazali emphasized the importance of religious faith and practice as essential components to the human knowledge and understanding. He did not believe and argued that reason was not enough for attaining spiritual truths. And that you needed to, like I said before, experience all of that on your own. In summary, while both Al-Ghazali and Abbas Eno made significant contributions to Islamic philosophy, theology, they very much differed in their approaches to reason and faith, and the relationship between philosophy and religion. With all this being said, you could see how they kind of buttheads. Yes, they were almost talking about the same things, but the ways that they got to these conclusions were very different. Abbas Eno wanted emphasis to be on reason and logic to understanding our world and God. But Al- Ghazi emphasized the importance of spiritual intuition and religious faith in Islam. Al-Ghazali and Abbas Eno both made significant contributions to Islamic philosophy, despite their differences. Generations to come were affected by Al-Ghazali's emphasis on spirituality and religious experience, while Abbas Eno's rationalism serves as a foundation for many later Muslim philosophers. In summary, the discussion between Abbas Eno and Al-Ghazali illustrates the wide range perspectives that were found in the Islamic philosophy world, especially the Islamic golden age. While both saw things differently, and had different priorities in their thinking, they were both brilliant thinkers that were very educated, well spoken, and well respected of people and by people of their time, and years after. You can see how this is true because we are in the year 2024. And they are still very relevant in teaching us things and different ways of thinking. Even now, philosophers, theologians, truth seekers, and normal people like you and me are motivated by their discussions. I appreciate you coming along on this tour into the minds of Al-Ghazali and Abbas Eno. Come back next time to explore more thought provoking concepts from the great thinkers in history. Until then, continue to seek out, investigate, and explore the truth. Thank you for listening. I'm your host, Jamila Snowes, and I hope you come back to enjoy another thought provoking discussion about medieval philosophers. Also, please leave a comment on who you relate more in your way of thinking. I'm interested to see as they are both similar, but very different. Bye, thank you and have a nice day.