Physician · 980 – 1037
Avicenna
Key Takeaways
- Avicenna was the foremost physician and philosopher of the Islamic Golden Age.
- His Canon of Medicine was a standard medical text in Europe and the Islamic world for centuries.
- He synthesized the philosophy of Aristotle with Islamic thought.
- He made contributions across medicine, logic, metaphysics and astronomy.
Avicenna — Ibn Sina — was the towering polymath of the Islamic Golden Age, a physician and philosopher whose influence stretched across the medieval world from Persia to the universities of Europe.
Master of medicine
Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine organized the medical knowledge of the Greeks, Persians and Arabs into a single systematic encyclopedia. Clear, comprehensive and rational, it became a standard medical text in both the Islamic world and Christian Europe for some six centuries — building on the tradition of Hippocrates.
Philosopher of being
In philosophy, Avicenna built on Aristotle to construct an original system, especially in metaphysics and the theory of the soul. His arguments about existence and the necessary being shaped Islamic philosophy profoundly.
Influence on Europe
Translated into Latin, Avicenna’s works flowed into medieval Europe, where his metaphysics influenced scholastic theologians such as Thomas Aquinas. He stands, with Averroes, among the greatest minds the medieval world produced.
Influence
Avicenna shaped both Islamic and European thought; his Canon was taught in European medical schools into the 17th century, and his philosophy influenced Aquinas and the whole scholastic tradition.
Legacy
Regarded as one of the most significant thinkers of the medieval world, Avicenna is honored as a founder of early modern medicine and a master of philosophy.
Major Works
- The Canon of Medicine
- The Book of Healing
Notable Quotes
“The world is divided into men who have wit and no religion and men who have religion and no wit.”
Connections
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Avicenna?
Avicenna (Ibn Sina, c. 980–1037) was a Persian polymath of the Islamic Golden Age, a leading physician and philosopher whose Canon of Medicine was used for centuries.
What is the Canon of Medicine?
It is Avicenna's vast medical encyclopedia, which organized and advanced medical knowledge and served as a standard reference in Europe and the Islamic world for some 600 years.
Biography Books
- The Canon of Medicine — Avicenna (Ibn Sina) (1025)advanced
Avicenna's landmark medical encyclopedia.
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Citations & Sources
People Like Avicenna
Aristotle
98Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath whose writings on logic, ethics, biology, politics and metaphysics shaped Western thought for over two millennia.
Why Avicenna built his philosophy on Aristotle, whose works he interpreted for the Islamic world.
Thomas Aquinas
91Thomas Aquinas was a medieval Italian theologian and philosopher whose synthesis of Christian theology and Aristotelian philosophy became central to Catholic thought and the high point of scholasticism.
Why Avicenna's metaphysics and arguments deeply influenced later scholastic theologians like Aquinas.
Averroes
87Averroes was a philosopher and polymath of Al-Andalus whose commentaries on Aristotle profoundly shaped medieval European philosophy and the relationship between reason and faith.
Why A fellow great philosopher of the Islamic world who also interpreted Aristotle.
Hippocrates
88Hippocrates was an ancient Greek physician regarded as the father of Western medicine, who established medicine as a rational discipline distinct from superstition and inspired the Hippocratic Oath.
Why The Greek father of medicine whose tradition Avicenna systematized and advanced.
René Descartes
92René Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician and scientist, the "father of modern philosophy", famous for "I think, therefore I am" and for founding analytic geometry.
Why Also a philosopher & scientist · Worked in philosophy
Al-Khwarizmi
89Al-Khwarizmi was a Persian mathematician and scholar of the Islamic Golden Age, the "father of algebra", whose name gave us the word "algorithm".
Why Also a scientist · Worked in astronomy