From Toledo to Gotha

New Perspectives on the Impact of Avicenna upon Sciences and Philosophy in Europe

Conference, KU Leuven (BE). 14-15 October 2022. Avicenna’s contributions have been pivotal for the development of knowledge in pre-modern Europe. Since the 12th century, his philosophical works had been made available in Latin and used to investigate metaphysical and natural problems, better understand Aristotle’s sometimes obscure doctrines, assimilate the reflections of thinkers like Alexander of Aphrodisias, but also to train generations of physicians to treat illnesses and grasp the fundamentals of embryology and the fabric of the human body. By focusing on the multilayered transfer of Avicenna’s theories to the Latin West, from the times of Domenicus Gundisalvi to the Europe of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and of the newly founded Academies of Sciences, From Toledo to Gotha aims to gather some of the most innovative researchers working on aspects of the “Avicenna Latinus”. What is the nature and precise extent of Avicenna’s impact on European thought?

Is it possible to isolate a specific Latin “brand” of Ibn Sina’s thought distinct from and defined against its original, “Arabic” contents and system? Is it accurate to consider that – as it has been commonly written – the main Islamicate authority in Europe was Averroes instead of Avicenna? How deep Renaissance Avicennism reshaped the Platonic and Aristotelian legacies? Which are the characteristic features of the material transmission, translation, circulation, and reading of Avicenna’s (and Ps-Avicenna’s) writings throughout Europe on the eve of the Scientific Revolution?

A joint collaboration among KU Leuven, UCLouvain, and SOFIME, the conference will foster a general re-setting of the debate on the “Avicenna Latinus”, shedding light on some obscure aspects of his influence on European philosophy through an organic, longue-durée and inter-linguistic approach to his philosophical production. Avicenna’s role in the constitution of European philosophy and science will be examined by discussing a series of intertwined questions touching upon a plurality of domains and aspects, from the material production and circulation of the Latin translations of Avicenna’s works to the impact of the latter on philosophical doctrines and medical practices developed in Europe.

Keynote speakers: Amos Bertolacci (Scuola IMT Alti Studi Lucca), Brian Copenhaver (UCLA), Iolanda Ventura (University of Bologna).

Organisers: Cécile Bonmariage (UCLouvain), Sébastien Moureau (UCLouvain), Nicola Polloni (KU Leuven), Andrea Aldo Robiglio (KU Leuven).

Scientific Committee: Charles Burnett (The Warburg Institute), Silvia Di Donato (CNRS), Jules Janssens (Union Académique Intérnationale), Olga Lizzini (Université d’Aix-Marseille), Andreas Lammer (Radboud Universiteit), Pedro Mantas-España (Universidad de Córdoba), Cecilia Martini (Università di Padova), Gerd Van Riel (KU Leuven), Maarten Van Dyck (Universiteit Gent), Jacob Schmutz (UCLouvain).

Sponsoring Institutions: FNRS, KU Leuven, UCLouvain, Sociedad de Filosofía Medieval (SOFIME).

Participants: Hassan Amini, Miquel Beltrán, Luca Burzelli, Maria Cabré Duran, Anto Gavrić, Paloma Hernández Rubio, José Higuera Rubio, Maria José Jaramillo, Seth Kreeger, István Lánczky, Celina Lértora Mendoza, Ruizhi Ma, Pedro Mantas España, María Martín Gómez, Jaume Mensa i Valls, Marina Novina, Alessandro Passera, Athanasios Rinotas, Marco Signori, Shahed Tabatabaei, Constantin Teleanu

Programme

Friday, 14 October 2022

AV 91.12, Auditoriacomplex (122-20) Parkstraat 49, Leuven

8.45-9.00 opening of the conference

9.00-10.00 Keynote Lecture by Amos Bertolacci: “Avicenna and the Destiny of Man”, chaired by Nicola POLLONI

10.00-10.20 coffee break

Metaphysical and Physical Issues in Avicenna’s Philosophy, chaired by Cecilia MARTINI

10.20-10.35 José HIGUERA RUBIO, “Matter and Motion’s Dilemma: How Averroes Questioned Avicenna in the Substantia orbis”

10.35-10.50 Miquel BELTRÁN, “Love in Metaphysics Book IX (As Coherent with the Approach Found in Ibn Sina’s Treatise on Love)”

10.50-11.05 István LÁNCZKY, “Thing and Existent in Context: Reading Avicenna’s Primary Concepts Against the Theological Background”

11.05-11.25 panel discussion

11.25-11.40 Constantin TELEANU, “Ens necessarium/al-wuğūd muṭlaq. Avicenne, Algazel, Lulle et l’objet de la métaphysique”

11.40-11.55 Seth KREEGER, “Being and Some Medieval Avicennians”

11.55-12.15 panel discussion

12.15-15.00 lunch break

Avicenna’s Influence on the Scholastic Debate, chaired by Richard TAYLOR

15.00-15.15 Celina A. LÉRTORA MENDOZA, “La modesta presencia aviceniana en Grosseteste: una hipótesis”

15.15-15.30 Paloma HERNÁNDEZ RUBIO, “Ab appendiciis materiae: The Albertian Transformation of the Avicennian Notion of Appendages of Matter”

15.30-15.45 Anto GAVRIĆ, “The Reception of Avicenna in the Works of the First Disciples of Saint Thomas Aquinas”

15.45-16.05 panel discussion

16.05-16.20 Alessandro PASSERA, “Avicenne et Avicennisme invisible. Un cas d’étude au finir du XIII siècle”

16.20-16.35 Maria José JARAMILLO, “The Avicennian Concept of Commonness and Its Influence on Duns Scotus”

16.35-16.50 Athanasios RINOTAS, “Avicenna’s Divisions of Intellectual Sciences as a Possible Influence on Albertus Magnus’ Conception of ‘Pseudo-Sciences’”

16.50-17.00 panel discussion

17.00-17.30 coffee break

17.30-18.30 Keynote Lecture by Iolanda Ventura: “Avicenna’s Role in the Systematization of Galenic Pharmacology”, chaired by Cécile BONMARIAGE

18.30-20.00 Olga LIZZINI and Josep PUIG MONTADA, Discussion of the book edited by Daniel De Smet and Meryem Sebti, Penser avec Avicenne. De l’heritage grec a la reception latine, en hommage à Jules Janssens (Louvain 2022)

20.00-22.00 conference dinner

Saturday, 15 October 2022

Zaal Couvreur, Learning Center AGORA (114-01), Edward Van Evenstraat 4, Leuven

9.30-10.30 Keynote Lecture by Brian Copenhaver: “Was Avicenna a Good Peripatetic in Pico’s Conclusions?”, chaired by Andrea Aldo ROBIGLIO

10-30-10.50 coffee break

Avicenna and the Scientific Tradition, chaired by Andreas LAMMER

10.50-11.05 Marina NOVINA, “Philosophy as the Foundation of Medicine in the Avicenna’s Canon”

11.05-11.20 Marco SIGNORI, “Avicennan Fevers: Imperceptible Illness in the Latin Avicenna and Algazel, and Their Readers”

11.20-11.35 Ruizhi MA, “Avicenna’s Real Distinction Between Color and Light: Its Inspiration, Innovation and Impact”

11.35-11.55 panel discussion

11.55-12.10 Maria CABRÉ DURAN and Jaume MENSA I VALLS , “Avicena en el Speculum medicine de Arnau de Vilanova”

12.10-12.25 Hassan AMINI, “A Fragment of De quaesitis: Avicenna’s Contribution to a Debate on the Celestial Bodies”

12.25-12.40 panel discussion

12.40-15.00 lunch break

Avicenna in the Renaissance and Early Modern Tradition, chaired by Josep PUIG MONTADA

15.00-15.15 Luca BURZELLI, “Avicenna’s Hylomorphism and Its Renaissance Readers: The Case of Gasparo Contarini”

15.15-15.30 María MARTÍN GÓMEZ, “Presencia y ausencia de Avicena en la Escuela de Salamanca”

15.30-15.45 Shahed TABATABAEI, “Between Avicenna and Spinoza: On the Proper Beginning of the Science of Metaphysics”

15.45-16.00 Pedro MANTAS ESPAÑA, “The Ambivalent Reception of Avicenna in 19^th century Spanish Historiography”

16.00-16.30 panel discussion

16.30-16.45 closure of the conference

17.15-19.30 General Assembly of the Sociedad de Filosofía Medieval (SOFIME).