April 28–29, 2023
Panel for 30 Years after Richard M. Frank: Al-Ghazālī and Avicenna in Post-Classical Islam, consisting of Thérèse-Anne Druart, Jon McGinnis, Toby Mayer, Frank Griffel, and Jan Thiele and hosted by Aseel Alfataftah and Michael Lessman in four parts. This third part of the panel considers Frank’s work: in his Creation and the Cosmic System, Richard M. Frank interpreted al-Ghazālī through the teachings of Avicenna and concluded “that from a theological standpoint most of the theses which he rejected are relatively tame and inconsequential compared to some of those in which he follows the philosopher” (p. 86). Does this kind of reading of al-Ghazālī do epistemological justice to his approach? Does it lead to a lack of interest in his traditional Islamic works compared to the philosophical ones despite their great significance for Muslim communities, past and present?