A New Paradigm for a New Era: An Edition and Translation of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi’s Compendium on Philosophy and Logic

FAIN: HB-289056-23

Michael A. Rapoport
Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, FL 33431-6424)

Editing and translating leading to a critical edition of The Compendium on Philosophy and Logic by the Muslim philosopher Fakhruddin Razi (1149?–1209).

My project aims to make available for the first time a critical edition and translation of Books I-III of the Compendium on Philosophy and Logic (al-Mulakhkhas fi l-hikma wa-l-mantiq) by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1210). Razi was a preeminent figure in Arabic and Islamic intellectual history and, more broadly, the history of philosophy; the Compendium was perhaps his most influential work on philosophy. The lack of critical editions and translations hinders our efforts to replace a dated, prejudice-based narrative of Arabic and Islamic intellectual history. A new narrative, which is currently being researched and written by myself and colleagues, will accurately place Razi’s accomplishments, and those of other Arabic scholars, within the broader history of science and philosophy. The edition and translation will be a major resource for faculty and graduate students in such fields as Arabic and Islamic Studies, Philosophy, History and Classics.