On the Intellect
by Al-Farabi · Risala fi'l-'aql
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- c. 940
- Era
- Medieval
- Form
- Treatise
- Language
- Arabic
- Length
- Short · 20 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Difficult4 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendClassical Arabic Philosophy, translated by Jon McGinnis and David C. ReismanHackett, 2007The anthology Yale assigns; it prints the treatise with the other main texts of the tradition.
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A short treatise distinguishing the senses in which the word intellect is used, in ordinary speech, by the theologians, and in Aristotle's Posterior Analytics, Ethics and On the Soul. Its core explains the stages of the human intellect, potential, actual and acquired, and the separate Active Intellect that raises human thought from potency to act and links the human mind to the celestial intelligences. The treatise shaped the accounts of the intellect in Avicenna, Averroes and Aquinas.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns On the Intellect are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
