Description
Book SynopsisHow do we judge whether we should be willing to follow the views of experts or whether we ought to try to come to our own, independent views? This book seeks the answer in medieval philosophical thought.
In this engaging study into the history of philosophy and epistemology, Peter Adamson provides an answer to a question as relevant today as it was in the medieval period: how and when should we turn to the authoritative expertise of other people in forming our own beliefs? He challenges us to reconsider our approach to this question through a constructive recovery of the intellectual and cultural traditions of the Islamic world, the Byzantine Empire, and Latin Christendom.
Adamson begins by foregrounding the distinction in Islamic philosophy between taqlid, or the uncritical acceptance of authority, and ijtihad, or judgment based on independent effort, the latter of which was particularly prized in Islamic law, theology, and philosophy
Trade Review
“This is a highly original work in its combination of popular and scholarly themes. Adamson weaves together a number of disparate sources under the broad theme of the epistemic legitimacy of authority, many of them unexpected companions.” —Deborah L. Black, author of Logic and Aristotle’s “Rhetoric” and “Poetics” in Medieval Arabic Philosophy
"Don’t Think for Yourself is a timely intervention from the past into the present. And while it is up to the individual reader to decide who they think offers the best insight today, Peter Adamson offers us a chance to have a dialogue across the generations, cultures and geographies. . . . We may not agree with what our predecessors thought about expertise and our relationship to it, but reading them might trigger a new way of thinking about our problems. A thoughtful, engaging and erudite book that leaves one wanting more." —The New Arab
"Thoughtful, lucid, and concise... A book which can be read fruitfully not only by medievalists of all disciplines, but also by anyone interested in the philosophic contributions of the past." —The Medieval Review
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. Taqlīd: Authority and the Intellectual Elite in the Islamic World
2. Too High a Standard: Knowledge and Skepticism in Medieval Philosophy
3. Testing the Prophets: Reason and the Choice of Faiths
4. Using the Pagans: Reason in Interreligious Debate
5. Some Pagans are Better than Others: the Merits of Plato and Aristotle
6. Finding Their Voices: Women in Byzantine and Latin Christian Philosophy
7. The Rule of Reason: Human and Animal Nature
