Migracja wiedzy i praktyk greckiej filozofii do kalifatu

Karol Wilczyński

doi:10.18290/rf26741.3

Published : 2026-03-25

Vol. 74 No. 1 (2026)

Migration of Practices and Knowledge of Greek Philosophy to the Caliphate

Karol Wilczyński

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9847-2924

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rf26741.3

Abstract

The analyzes the process whereby the ideas and educational practices of the Greek philosophical schools were transferred to the Arabic-speaking environment. The author describes the forced migration of scholars from Athens and Alexandria to the east, which enabled the development of Greek philosophical practices in a new cultural context, later influencing the formation of European philosophy in the Middle Ages. The text discusses the importance of philosophical education in the ancient Greek schools of Alexandria and Athens. Those elements of Greek philosophy teaching that were transferred to Arab philosophy, mainly through the medium of Syriac Christian schools, were analyzed. The author describes in detail the role of centres such as Ḥarrān, Edessa and Nisibis in preserving and transmitting philosophical knowledge which eventually reached the caliphate and was later developed by Arab authors. The article also demonstrates how the significant efforts of translators and early Arabic commentators enabled the dissemination of philosophical ideas in a novel cultural milieu.

Keywords:

philosophical practice, Arabic philosophy, Islam, migration of ideas, philosophical education

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Wilczyński, K. (2026). Migration of Practices and Knowledge of Greek Philosophy to the Caliphate. Roczniki Filozoficzne, 74(1), 55–76. https://doi.org/10.18290/rf26741.3

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