Does the Renaissance have roots in Islamic philosophy?

Natalia Vorontsova interviews Prof. Peter Adamson about the importance of Islamic philosophy for Western thought. Although little known in the West, philosophers such as Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes) played an absolutely crucial role in preserving, building on, and transmitting to the West the wisdom of Aristotle, Plato, and the Neoplatonists during the Middle Ages. Similarly, Suhrawardī’s Philosophy of Illumination and Ibn Arabī’s doctrine of the Unity of Being continue to influence Western thought to this day. If we want to understand the history of European philosophy, we cannot ignore these influential scholars and sages. If you would like to learn more about Islamic philosophy, you may wish to visit 00:00 Intro 00:02:07 The Renaissance and Islamic philosophy 00:10:46 Perennial wisdom and translation movements 00:15:39 Western thought: footnotes to Plato? 00:18:09 Why did the scientific revolution take place in Europe and not in the Islamic world? 00:24:52 Mathematical and mechanistic approaches to nature 00:31:14 Islamic philosophy: followers of Aristotle or Plato & Neoplatonism? 00:36:51 Idealism? Materialism? Something else? 00:43:42 Influence of Islamic philosophy on post-classical European thought 00:46:45 The metaphysics of Avicenna 00:49:58 Avicenna on the mind-body problem 00:53:44 Followers of Avicenna: Suhrawardi and his metaphysics 01:01:07 Suhrawardi: intuitive versus discursive philosophy 01:06:32 Surhawardi: the non-dual approach 01:08:52 Saladin and the fate of Suhrawardi 01:13:17 Ibn Arabi, his metaphysics and Sufi philosophy 01:22:23 Conclusions: the role of Islamic philosophy 01:27:13 Recommended reading 01:28:25 An afterthought