Ibn Rushd’s Criticism of the Theory of the Inherence of the Specific Property (khāssa) in Medicine, 2020
By: Yu Hoki
Title Ibn Rushd’s Criticism of the Theory of the Inherence of the Specific Property (khāssa) in Medicine
Type Article
Language English
Date 2020
Journal Bulletin of the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan
Volume 57
Issue 1
Pages 33–48
Categories Medicine, Galen, Avicenna, Tradition and Reception
Author(s) Yu Hoki
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)
In Medieval Arabic medical texts, a specific property (khāṣṣa) is thought to be one of the effects of a medicine, and effective in a specific humor or organ. This property is mainly mentioned to explain two phenomena, purgative medicines' attraction of a certain humor and theriacas strengthening of human innate heat. Galen had advocated the theory that the faculty of attracting a specific material inheres in a medical substance as its nature (referred to as the theory of inherence). The same view can be seen in the texts of Islamic philosopher-physicians such as Ibn Sīnā (d. 1037). On the other hand, Ibn Rushd (d. 1198) perceived the defects of this theory and criticised it. This article examines his criticism of the theory of inherence in his discussions about purgative medicines and theriacas. Ibn Rushd says that using the theory of inheritance, we cannot explain the phenomenon that when someone takes more than one dose of purgative medicine, it attracts not only the specific humor, but all of the humors. He then proposes the alternative theory that the specific property originates in the proportions of the qualities in the attracting and the attracted materials. From this perspective, he insists that the object of attraction varies according to the amount of the heat in the medicine. As for theriaca, Ibn Rushd criticises the theory of inherence as seen in the writings of Ibn Sīnā Ibn Sīnā claims that theriaca's specific property is generated from its substance, i.e. the combination of form with matter, not the mixture of the four qualities. But according to Ibn Rushd, with this explanation, it is impossible to explain the body's various responses to theriaca. Therefore he maintains that one must explain its specific property in terms of the four qualities. To conclude, Ibn Rushd considers his theory to be more capable of explaining various phenomena than the theory of inherence is.

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Philosophy and Medicine in the Formative Period of Islam, 2017
By: Peter Adamson (Ed.), Peter E. Pormann (Ed.)
Title Philosophy and Medicine in the Formative Period of Islam
Type Edited Book
Language English
Date 2017
Publication Place London
Publisher The Warburg Institute
Series Warburg Institute Colloquia
Volume 31
Categories Medicine, Galen, Tradition and Reception, al-Fārābī, Avicenna
Author(s) Peter Adamson , Peter E. Pormann
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)
Many of the leading philosophers in the Islamic world were doctors, yielding extensive links between philosophy and medicine. The twelve papers in this volume explore these links, focusing on the classical or formative period (up to the eleventh century AD). One central theme is the Arabic reception of the two outstanding figures of Greek medicine, Hippocrates and Galen ? we learn how Hippocrates was made into a mouthpiece for ethical wisdom, and how Galen influenced ideas in ethics and the nature of plant life. Aristotle is also considered, with a study of the reception of his ideas on longevity. Several of the luminaries of philosophy in the early Islamic world are also studied, including Abu Bakr al-Razi, al-Farabi, and Avicenna: all of them deploy medical ideas in their philosophical writings, whether to treat emotional distress as a kind of illness, to explain the function of eyesight, to compare the well-functioning state to the healthy human body, or to draw on anatomical ideas in works on psychology. Conversely, the volume also includes research on the use of philosophical ideas in medical texts, including medical compendia and the works of 'Ali ibn Ridwan. Attention is also given to the connections between medicine and Islamic theology (kalam). As a whole, the book provides both a survey of the kinds of work being done in this relatively unexplored area, and a springboard for further research.

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Ibn Rushd’s Criticism of the Theory of the Inherence of the Specific Property (khāssa) in Medicine, 2020
By: Yu Hoki
Title Ibn Rushd’s Criticism of the Theory of the Inherence of the Specific Property (khāssa) in Medicine
Type Article
Language English
Date 2020
Journal Bulletin of the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan
Volume 57
Issue 1
Pages 33–48
Categories Medicine, Galen, Avicenna, Tradition and Reception
Author(s) Yu Hoki
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)
In Medieval Arabic medical texts, a specific property (khāṣṣa) is thought to be one of the effects of a medicine, and effective in a specific humor or organ. This property is mainly mentioned to explain two phenomena, purgative medicines' attraction of a certain humor and theriacas strengthening of human innate heat. Galen had advocated the theory that the faculty of attracting a specific material inheres in a medical substance as its nature (referred to as the theory of inherence). The same view can be seen in the texts of Islamic philosopher-physicians such as Ibn Sīnā (d. 1037). On the other hand, Ibn Rushd (d. 1198) perceived the defects of this theory and criticised it. This article examines his criticism of the theory of inherence in his discussions about purgative medicines and theriacas. Ibn Rushd says that using the theory of inheritance, we cannot explain the phenomenon that when someone takes more than one dose of purgative medicine, it attracts not only the specific humor, but all of the humors. He then proposes the alternative theory that the specific property originates in the proportions of the qualities in the attracting and the attracted materials. From this perspective, he insists that the object of attraction varies according to the amount of the heat in the medicine. As for theriaca, Ibn Rushd criticises the theory of inherence as seen in the writings of Ibn Sīnā Ibn Sīnā claims that theriaca's specific property is generated from its substance, i.e. the combination of form with matter, not the mixture of the four qualities. But according to Ibn Rushd, with this explanation, it is impossible to explain the body's various responses to theriaca. Therefore he maintains that one must explain its specific property in terms of the four qualities. To conclude, Ibn Rushd considers his theory to be more capable of explaining various phenomena than the theory of inherence is.

{"_index":"bib","_type":"_doc","_id":"5049","_score":null,"_source":{"id":5049,"authors_free":[{"id":5799,"entry_id":5049,"agent_type":"person","is_normalised":null,"person_id":null,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"},"free_name":"Yu Hoki","free_first_name":"Yu","free_last_name":"Hoki","norm_person":null}],"entry_title":"Ibn Rushd\u2019s Criticism of the Theory of the Inherence of the Specific Property (kh\u0101ssa) in Medicine","title_transcript":"","title_translation":"","main_title":{"title":"Ibn Rushd\u2019s Criticism of the Theory of the Inherence of the Specific Property (kh\u0101ssa) in Medicine"},"abstract":"In Medieval Arabic medical texts, a specific property (kh\u0101\u1e63\u1e63a) is thought to be one of the effects of a medicine, and effective in a specific humor or organ. This property is mainly mentioned to explain two phenomena, purgative medicines' attraction of a certain humor and theriacas strengthening of human innate heat. Galen had advocated the theory that the faculty of attracting a specific material inheres in a medical substance as its nature (referred to as the theory of inherence). The same view can be seen in the texts of Islamic philosopher-physicians such as Ibn S\u012bn\u0101 (d. 1037). On the other hand, Ibn Rushd (d. 1198) perceived the defects of this theory and criticised it. This article examines his criticism of the theory of inherence in his discussions about purgative medicines and theriacas.\r\nIbn Rushd says that using the theory of inheritance, we cannot explain the phenomenon that when someone takes more than one dose of purgative medicine, it attracts not only the specific humor, but all of the humors. He then proposes the alternative theory that the specific property originates in the proportions of the qualities in the attracting and the attracted materials. From this perspective, he insists that the object of attraction varies according to the amount of the heat in the medicine.\r\nAs for theriaca, Ibn Rushd criticises the theory of inherence as seen in the writings of Ibn S\u012bn\u0101 Ibn S\u012bn\u0101 claims that theriaca's specific property is generated from its substance, i.e. the combination of form with matter, not the mixture of the four qualities. But according to Ibn Rushd, with this explanation, it is impossible to explain the body's various responses to theriaca. Therefore he maintains that one must explain its specific property in terms of the four qualities.\r\nTo conclude, Ibn Rushd considers his theory to be more capable of explaining various phenomena than the theory of inherence is. ","btype":3,"date":"2020","language":"English","online_url":"","doi_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5356\/jorient.57.1_33","ti_url":"","categories":[{"id":29,"category_name":"Medicine","link":"bib?categories[]=Medicine"},{"id":30,"category_name":"Galen","link":"bib?categories[]=Galen"},{"id":10,"category_name":"Avicenna","link":"bib?categories[]=Avicenna"},{"id":43,"category_name":"Tradition and Reception","link":"bib?categories[]=Tradition and Reception"}],"authors":[],"works":[],"republication_of":null,"translation_of":null,"new_edition_of":null,"book":null,"booksection":null,"article":{"id":5049,"journal_id":null,"journal_name":"Bulletin of the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan","volume":"57","issue":"1","pages":"33\u201348"}},"sort":["Ibn Rushd\u2019s Criticism of the Theory of the Inherence of the Specific Property (kh\u0101ssa) in Medicine"]}

Philosophy and Medicine in the Formative Period of Islam, 2017
By: Peter Adamson (Ed.), Peter E. Pormann (Ed.)
Title Philosophy and Medicine in the Formative Period of Islam
Type Edited Book
Language English
Date 2017
Publication Place London
Publisher The Warburg Institute
Series Warburg Institute Colloquia
Volume 31
Categories Medicine, Galen, Tradition and Reception, al-Fārābī, Avicenna
Author(s) Peter Adamson , Peter E. Pormann
Publisher(s)
Translator(s)
Many of the leading philosophers in the Islamic world were doctors, yielding extensive links between philosophy and medicine. The twelve papers in this volume explore these links, focusing on the classical or formative period (up to the eleventh century AD). One central theme is the Arabic reception of the two outstanding figures of Greek medicine, Hippocrates and Galen ? we learn how Hippocrates was made into a mouthpiece for ethical wisdom, and how Galen influenced ideas in ethics and the nature of plant life. Aristotle is also considered, with a study of the reception of his ideas on longevity. Several of the luminaries of philosophy in the early Islamic world are also studied, including Abu Bakr al-Razi, al-Farabi, and Avicenna: all of them deploy medical ideas in their philosophical writings, whether to treat emotional distress as a kind of illness, to explain the function of eyesight, to compare the well-functioning state to the healthy human body, or to draw on anatomical ideas in works on psychology. Conversely, the volume also includes research on the use of philosophical ideas in medical texts, including medical compendia and the works of 'Ali ibn Ridwan. Attention is also given to the connections between medicine and Islamic theology (kalam). As a whole, the book provides both a survey of the kinds of work being done in this relatively unexplored area, and a springboard for further research.

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