Greek And Arabic Antecedents

Abstract Here I shall examine Greek and early Arabic speculation on the following topics: (1) the stages through which the human intellect can pass; (2) the type of entity the active intellect is; (3) the manner in which the active intellect produces human thought; (4) the active intellect’s role in bringing the sublunar world or segments of it into existence; and (5) the rationale that the active intellect furnishes for certain religious phenomena. My object will not be to reproduce the systems of the philosophers discussed but to draw attention to statements and theories that shed light on Alfarabi, Avicenna, and Averroes.