Knowra Avicenna Avicenna Avicenna (Ibn Sina, c. 980–1037) was a Persian polymath whose writings on philosophy and medicine shaped scholarship across the Islamic world and medieval Europe.
Aristotelianism : A philosophical tradition based on Aristotle’s writings about logic, nature, ethics, and metaphysics. Avicenna adopted Aristotle’s framework while revising it to address questions such as existence and causation.
Essence and existence : A metaphysical distinction between what a thing is and the fact that it exists. Avicenna used this distinction to argue that contingent things require a cause of their existence.
The Canon of Medicine : Avicenna’s medical encyclopedia, organizing knowledge of diseases, drugs, anatomy, and treatment. This work carried his medical system into teaching and practice for centuries.
Bukhara : A historic Central Asian city that was a major center of learning and government. Avicenna grew up near Bukhara and studied in its scholarly environment.
Avicennism : The philosophical tradition derived from Avicenna’s teachings and later interpretations of them. His followers developed, defended, and revised his system across the Islamic world.
Neoplatonism : A philosophical tradition that explains reality as emanating from a first, transcendent principle. Its account of emanation helped shape Avicenna’s explanation of how the world depends on God.
Necessary existent : A being whose existence is not caused by anything else and cannot fail to exist. Avicenna identifies the Necessary Existent with God and makes it the foundation of his metaphysics.
Humoral theory : An ancient medical system that explains health and illness through the balance of bodily fluids and qualities. Avicenna incorporated and organized humoral medicine within his account of diagnosis and treatment.
Samanid Empire : A Persianate dynasty that ruled parts of Central Asia and Iran from the ninth to tenth centuries. Avicenna’s early education and intellectual formation took place under Samanid rule.
Averroes : A twelfth-century Andalusian philosopher and jurist known for influential commentaries on Aristotle. Averroes criticized parts of Avicenna’s metaphysics while advancing a different reading of Aristotle.
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