Ahmed Alwishah

  • Professor of Philosophy
  • Philosophy Field Group
faculty portrait of ahmed alwishah
Office Location

Scott Hall 220

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With ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ Since: 2009

Curriculum Vitae [PDF]

 

PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
BA, Baghdad University

Islamic Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Islamic Theology

Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language, and Logic

  • Life Fellow at Clare Hall College, University of Cambridge, 2014
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Introduction to the Humanities Program: Stanford University, 2008-09
  • Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, 2007-08
  • Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS), 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001
  • The Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Program, 2003

Edited Volumes

  • Illuminationist Texts and Textual Studies, co-edited with Ali Gheissari and John Walbridge, Brill, forthcoming.
  • Aristotle and Arabic Tradition, co-edited with Josh Hayes, Cambridge University Press, 2015.
  • Refinement and Commentary of Suhrawardī’s Intimations: A Thirteenth Century Text On Natural Philosophy and Psychology, co-edited with Hossein Ziai, Mazda Publishers, 2002.

Articles in Refereed Journals

  • “TaftazÄ�nÄ« on the Liar Paradox: Truth, Goodness, and the “Irrational Rootâ€� (al- Jadhr al-aá¹£amm), co-authored with David Sanson, Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy, vol. 4, January 2017.
  • “Avicenna on Animal Self-Awareness, Cognition and Identity,â€� Cambridge Journal of Arabic Sciences and Philosophy, February 2016.
  • “Ibn SÄ«nÄ� on Floating Man Arguments,â€� Journal of Islamic Philosophy, September 2015.
  • “The Early Arabic Liar: The Liar Paradox in the Islamic World from the Mid- Ninth to the Mid-Thirteenth Centuries CEâ€� co-authored with David Sanson, Vivarium Journal 47, 1999: 97-127.

Chapters in Edited Volumes

  •  â€œSuhrawardÄ« and Ibn KammÅ«na on the Impossibility of Having Two Necessary Existents,â€� in Illuminationist Texts and Textual Studies, edited by Ali Gheissari, John Walbridge, and Ahmed Alwishah, Brill, forthcoming
  • “Avicenna On Self-Cognition and Self-Awareness,â€� in Aristotle and Arabic Tradition, edited by Ahmed Alwishah with Josh Hayes, Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Translations

  • Translation of the Arabic testimonia on Thales in Richard McKirahan, The Milesians Thales. De Gruyter, 2014.

Encyclopedia Entry

  • “Ibn KammÅ«na SaÊ¿d Ibn Manṣūrâ€� an entry in The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Islamic Philosophy, edited by Oliver Leaman. Continuum, 2006.

Monograph

  • Avicenna’s Philosophy of Mind and Body (Oxford University Press, under review)
  • “Doubt in Islamic Theology and Philosophy,â€� at Doubt and Faith in Islam and Judaism Symposium, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, February 2, 2018.
  • “Avicenna on Animal Self-Awareness, Cognition and Identityâ€� at 9e colloque international de la Société Internationale d’Histoire des Sciences et de la Philosophie Arabes et Islamiques (S. I. H. S. P. A. I.), Paris, Univ. Paris Diderot- Paris 7, October 10, 2014.
  • “Ziai on the Distinction between Peripatetic and Illuminationist Epistemologyâ€� at 10th Biennial Iranian Studies Conference, Montreal, Canada, August 8, 2014.
  • “Divine Knowledge and Human Self-Awarenessâ€� Clare Hall Colloquium Cambridge University, May 6, 2014
  • “Avicenna On Self-Cognition and Self-Awarenessâ€� at the conference of British Association for Islamic Studies, Edinburgh, April 10, 2014.
  • “Avicenna on God’s Knowledge of the Universe and Human Cognitionâ€� at the conference of Ancient Cosmos: Concord Among Worlds, Durham University, Department of Classics and Ancient History, September, 20-22, 2013.
  • “Avicenna and the Sameness Thesis in Human and Divine Intellectâ€� at Moody Conference in Medieval Philosophy, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, March 9, 2013.
  • “Dialectical Disputation in Quranâ€� at the Conference of Contemplating the Qur’an (Tadabbur al-Qur’an), Howard University School of Divinity, March 24-25, 2013.
  • “Avicenna on Animals Self-Awarenessâ€� at the 30th annual joint meeting of the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy (SAGP) with the Society for the Study of Islamic Philosophy and Science (SSIPS), Fordham University, October 20, 2012.
  • Dialectical Disputation in Quran and the Greek Logicâ€� at Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Early Modern Period: an Intramural Symposium for the Claremont Colleges, March 9, 2012.
  • “Avicenna and Hume on Self-Knowledgeâ€� at the 29th annual joint meeting of the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy (SAGP) with the Society for the Study of Islamic Philosophy and Science (SSIPS), Fordham University, October 23, 2011.
  • “Avicenna on Human Existence and Self-Awareness,â€� paper presented at the International Colloquium of the SIHSPAI: Philosophy and Science in Classical Islamic Civilisation, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, December 4, 2010.
  • “Avicenna on Divine Self-Awareness and Human Self-Awarenessâ€� The 28th annual joint meeting of the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy (SAGP) with the Society for the Study of Islamic Philosophy (SSIPS), October 17, 2010.
  • “The Study of Islamic Philosophy in US,â€� Philosophy Department, Baghdad University, Art College, Iraq, January 2010.
  • “Avicenna on Mental Languageâ€� at the 27th annual joint meeting of the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy (SAGP) with the Society for the Study of Islamic Philosophy and Science (SSIPS), Fordham University, 2009.
  • “What is God? An Investigation of the Divine Attributes In Islamic Theology and Philosophy,â€� Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Stanford University, 2008.
  • “Learning in the Religious Traditions,â€� Honors program, University of California, Riverside, 2006.
  • “Avicenna’s Concept of Intention,â€� The International Conference on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Fordham University, NY, 2006.
  • “Avicenna on ‘I exist’ and Self-Awareness,â€� Moody Conference in Medieval Philosophy, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, 2006.
  • “Self-Knowledge in Islamic Philosophy,â€� The Human Condition Conference, Victoria University, Victoria, Canada, 2005.
  • “The Arabic Liar Paradox,â€� Moody Conference in Medieval Philosophy, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, 2004.
  • “Avicenna and Descartes on ‘I exist.’â€� The International Conference on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Fordham University, NY, 2003.
  • “Avicenna on the Faculty of Representation.â€� The 20th Annual Ancient and Medieval Philosophy Dialogue Among Civilizations Conference, Binghamton University, NY, 2001.
  • Served as external referee for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, an online resource, 2010:

Assistant Professor of Philosophy, ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½, 2015-present
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½, 2009-15

  • “Spinoza and Leibniz on Reality,â€� Spring 2011
  • “God and Philosophy, Reason in Conflict,â€� Fall 2011 (with Yuval Avnur), Spring 2015
  • “Islam vs. Islam,â€� Fall 2010, Fall 2014
  • “Philosophy of Religion,â€� Spring 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015
  • “Introduction to Philosophy,â€� Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2013
  • “History of Ethics,â€� Spring 2009
  • “Islamic Philosophy,â€� Fall 2009, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013
  • “Philosophical Questionsâ€� (A First-year Seminar), Fall 2012, Fall 2015

Claremont Graduate University, School of Religion

  • “Ghazali: Philosophy and Theology,â€� Fall 2011

Stanford University, Introduction to the Humanities

  • “Humanistic Perspectives on Science,â€� Winter and Spring 2009
  • “Fate of Reason,â€� Winter and Spring 2008

UCLA, Philosophy Department

  • “Topics in Islamic Philosophy,â€� Spring 2004, 2007

PhD Advising

I have supervised two successful PhD dissertations at Claremont Graduate University, School of Religion: Sana Tayyen “Ghazali, Aquinas, and Lita’arafu: The Interaction between Reason and Revelation for Interreligious Understanding,� 2014.

Ozgur Koca “Said Nursi’s Synthesis of Ashʿarite Occasionalism and Ibn ‘Arabī’s Metaphysical Cosmology: “Diagonal Occasionalism,� Modern Science, and Free Will,� 2014.

Recent Courses

  • Introduction to Philosophy (PHIL7)
  • History of Ethics (PHIL31)
  • Philosophy of Religion (PHIL52)
  • Islamic Philosophy (PHIL84)
  • God and Philosophy (PHIL96)
  • Islam vs. Islam (PHIL155)
  • Spinoza and Leibniz on Reality (PHIL186S)