Ibn Sina, or Avicenna as he is known by the Latinized version of his name, was an Islamic polymath and peripatetic philosopher (influenced by Aristotelian philosophy) widely recognized as one of the leading thinkers in the medieval period. His influence spread both in the Islamic world and in the Latin West. Here is a very recent podcast episode where two scholars discuss Avicenna’s epistemology – was he an empiricist or a rationalist? The short answer is – it’s not that straightforward. The talk is based on Jari Kaukua’s article published in the April 2020 issue of the Journal of the History of Philosophy: “Avicenna’s Outsourced Rationalism”. It is a very interesting talk where, curiously, giraffes get mentioned a lot. Enjoy!

Keeping up the “Spreading the Word” tradition, every weekend, I hope to share with you an article I’ve read or a video I’ve seen and considered to be inspiring and insightful. I feel it is important to take good care both of our physical and mental well-being. Humans have always turned and returned to storytelling to find meaning. My weekends’ “Spreading the Word” posts are an online version of sharing meaningful stories.   

keep exploring and storytelling!

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