Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures pp 138–140Cite as

Al‐Kindī

  • Reference work entry

  • 69 Accesses

Al‐Kindī, Abū Yūsuf Ya˓qūb ibn Isḥāq, was born ca. 801 in Kūfah and died ca. 866 in Baghdad.

Often called the Philosopher of the Arabs, little is known with certainty about the life of this early Muslim philosopher and scientist. He flourished in Baghdad, then capital of the Abbasid Empire and center of its intellectual life. Greek, Persian, and Indian works were being translated into Arabic and a multitude of religious and other thinkers were developing new and sophisticated schools of thought and literature. The Mutakallimūn, Islamic theologians, were actively engaged in controversies over God's attributes and freedom of the will as well as over the methodology of knowledge. During the life of al‐Kindī, Baghdad experienced the political ascendancy and fall of the dialectical theological movement of the Mu˓tazilah, a movement that used a rationalistic approach to defend the religious dogmas of Islam. Al‐Kindī sympathized with some ideas of this movement such as the uniqueness of God,...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   609.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • ˓Abd al‐Hādī Abū Ridah. Rasā˓il al‐Kindī l‐falsafiyah. 2 vols. Cairo: Dār al‐Fikr al˓Arabī, 1950–1953.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adamson, Peter. Al‐Kindi and the Mutazila: Divine Attributes, Creation and Freedom. Arabic Sciences and Philosophy 13 (2003): 45–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • al‐Kindi, Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al‐Sabbah, sec. IX. Oeuvres philosophiques et scientifiques d'Al‐Kindi. Ed. par Jean Jolivet and Roshdi Rashed. Leiden: Brill, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atiyeh, George N. al‐Kindi: The Philosopher of the Arabs. Islamabad, Pakistan: Islamic Research Institute, 1967.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cortabarria, A. La classification des sciences chez Al‐Kindi. Mélanges de L'Institut dominican d'études Orientales 11 (1972): 49–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‐‐‐. Al‐Kindi, Vu par Albert Le Grand. Mélanges de L'Institut dominican d'études Orientales 13 (1977): 117–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • d'Averny, M. T. and F. Hurdy. Al‐Kindi, De radiis. Archives d'histoire doctrinale et litteraire du moyen‐age 41 (1974): 139–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demirhan Erdemir, Aysegül. A Perspective of an English Translation of Aqrabadhin of Abu Yusuf Yaqub Ibn Ishaq Al‐Kindi and Some Results. Journal of the International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine (ISHIM) 1.1 (Apr. 2002): 16–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fakhri, Majid. History of Islamic Philosophy. New York: Columbia University Press, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivry, Alfred L. Al‐Kindī's Metaphysics. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1974.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jolivet, J. L'intellect selon Kindi. Leiden: Brill, 1971.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levey, M. The Medical Formulary or Aqrābadhin of al‐Kindī. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1966.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prioreschi, Plinio. Al‐Kindi: A Precursor of the Scientific Revolution. Journal of the International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine (ISHIM) 1.2 (Oct. 2002): 17–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rashed, Roshdi. Al‐Kindī's Commentary on Archimedes’ The Measurement of the Circle. Arabic Science and Philosophy 3 (1993): 7–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‐‐‐. Le commentaire par al‐Kindi de ‘L'Optique’ d'Euclide: un traité jusqu'ici inconnu. Arabic Sciences and Philosophy 7.1 (Mar. 1997): 9–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rescher, Nicholas. Al‐Kindī: An Annotated Bibliography. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1964.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruffinengo, Pier Paolo. al‐Kindi: Sull'intelletto, Sul sonno e la visione. Medioevo 23 (1997): 337–394.

    Google Scholar 

  • Travaglia, Pinella. Magic, Causality and Intentionality: The Doctrine of Rays in al‐Kindi. Ed. del Galluzzo. Firenze: Società internazionale per lo studio del medioevo latino (SISMEL), 1999.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. George N. Atiyeh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hampshire College, 893 West Street, 01002, Amherst, MA, USA

    Helaine Selin (Editor) (Editor)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

Atiyeh, G.N. (2008). Al‐Kindī. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_9090

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_9090

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-4559-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4425-0

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation