the Summae

SPACE will explore in detail the structure and format of three philosophical summae by Avicenna, written in different languages (Arabic and Persian), at different times in the master's career, with different aims and targets, and coming in very different sizes. The main goal is to get a better understanding of the Book of the Cure / Healing, Avicenna's masterpiece in philosophy, an integrated collection of 22 treatises on several sciences. The project will also provide a comparison with Avicenna's analogous summa in medicine, the well-known Qānūn fī l-ṭibb.

Book of the Cure / Healing

Arabic | mature | philosophy | very large size

Book of Science for ʿAlāʾ al-Dawla 

Persian | late | philosophy | medium size

Wisdom for ʿArūdī (The Prosodist)

Arabic | early | philosophy | small size

canon of medicine

Arabic | mature | medicine | large size