Ahmed Alwishah

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

Scott Hall 220

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With 兔子先生 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 Suhraward墨鈥檚 Intimations: A Thirteenth Century Text On Natural Philosophy and Psychology, co-edited with Hossein Ziai, Mazda Publishers, 2002.

Articles in Refereed Journals

  • 鈥淭aftaz膩n墨 on the Liar Paradox: Truth, Goodness, and the 鈥淚rrational Root鈥 (al- Jadhr al-a峁mm), co-authored with David Sanson, Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy, vol. 4, January 2017.
  • 鈥淎vicenna on Animal Self-Awareness, Cognition and Identity,鈥 Cambridge Journal of Arabic Sciences and Philosophy, February 2016.
  • 鈥淚bn S墨n膩 on Floating Man Arguments,鈥 Journal of Islamic Philosophy, September 2015.
  • 鈥淭he Early Arabic Liar: The Liar Paradox in the Islamic World from the Mid- Ninth to the Mid-Thirteenth Centuries CE鈥 co-authored with David Sanson, Vivarium Journal 47, 1999: 97-127.

Chapters in Edited Volumes

  •  鈥淪uhraward墨 and Ibn Kamm奴na on the Impossibility of Having Two Necessary Existents,鈥 in Illuminationist Texts and Textual Studies, edited by Ali Gheissari, John Walbridge, and Ahmed Alwishah, Brill, forthcoming
  • 鈥淎vicenna On Self-Cognition and Self-Awareness,鈥 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 Kamm奴na Sa士d Ibn Man峁E玶鈥 an entry in The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Islamic Philosophy, edited by Oliver Leaman. Continuum, 2006.

Monograph

  • Avicenna鈥檚 Philosophy of Mind and Body (Oxford University Press, under review)
  • 鈥淒oubt in Islamic Theology and Philosophy,鈥 at Doubt and Faith in Islam and Judaism Symposium, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, February 2, 2018.
  • 鈥淎vicenna on Animal Self-Awareness, Cognition and Identity鈥 at 9e colloque international de la Soci茅t茅 Internationale d鈥橦istoire 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.
  • 鈥淶iai on the Distinction between Peripatetic and Illuminationist Epistemology鈥 at 10th Biennial Iranian Studies Conference, Montreal, Canada, August 8, 2014.
  • 鈥淒ivine Knowledge and Human Self-Awareness鈥 Clare Hall Colloquium Cambridge University, May 6, 2014
  • 鈥淎vicenna On Self-Cognition and Self-Awareness鈥 at the conference of British Association for Islamic Studies, Edinburgh, April 10, 2014.
  • 鈥淎vicenna on God鈥檚 Knowledge of the Universe and Human Cognition鈥 at the conference of Ancient Cosmos: Concord Among Worlds, Durham University, Department of Classics and Ancient History, September, 20-22, 2013.
  • 鈥淎vicenna and the Sameness Thesis in Human and Divine Intellect鈥 at Moody Conference in Medieval Philosophy, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, March 9, 2013.
  • 鈥淒ialectical Disputation in Quran鈥 at the Conference of Contemplating the Qur鈥檃n (Tadabbur al-Qur鈥檃n), Howard University School of Divinity, March 24-25, 2013.
  • 鈥淎vicenna on Animals Self-Awareness鈥 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 Logic鈥 at Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Early Modern Period: an Intramural Symposium for the Claremont Colleges, March 9, 2012.
  • 鈥淎vicenna and Hume on Self-Knowledge鈥 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.
  • 鈥淎vicenna on Human Existence and Self-Awareness,鈥 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.
  • 鈥淎vicenna on Divine Self-Awareness and Human Self-Awareness鈥 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.
  • 鈥淭he Study of Islamic Philosophy in US,鈥 Philosophy Department, Baghdad University, Art College, Iraq, January 2010.
  • 鈥淎vicenna on Mental Language鈥 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.
  • 鈥淲hat is God? An Investigation of the Divine Attributes In Islamic Theology and Philosophy,鈥 Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Stanford University, 2008.
  • 鈥淟earning in the Religious Traditions,鈥 Honors program, University of California, Riverside, 2006.
  • 鈥淎vicenna鈥檚 Concept of Intention,鈥 The International Conference on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Fordham University, NY, 2006.
  • 鈥淎vicenna on 鈥業 exist鈥 and Self-Awareness,鈥 Moody Conference in Medieval Philosophy, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, 2006.
  • 鈥淪elf-Knowledge in Islamic Philosophy,鈥 The Human Condition Conference, Victoria University, Victoria, Canada, 2005.
  • 鈥淭he Arabic Liar Paradox,鈥 Moody Conference in Medieval Philosophy, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, 2004.
  • 鈥淎vicenna and Descartes on 鈥業 exist.鈥欌 The International Conference on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Fordham University, NY, 2003.
  • 鈥淎vicenna on the Faculty of Representation.鈥 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, 兔子先生, 2015-present
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, 兔子先生, 2009-15

  • 鈥淪pinoza and Leibniz on Reality,鈥 Spring 2011
  • 鈥淕od and Philosophy, Reason in Conflict,鈥 Fall 2011 (with Yuval Avnur), Spring 2015
  • 鈥淚slam vs. Islam,鈥 Fall 2010, Fall 2014
  • 鈥淧hilosophy of Religion,鈥 Spring 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015
  • 鈥淚ntroduction to Philosophy,鈥 Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2013
  • 鈥淗istory of Ethics,鈥 Spring 2009
  • 鈥淚slamic Philosophy,鈥 Fall 2009, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013
  • 鈥淧hilosophical Questions鈥 (A First-year Seminar), Fall 2012, Fall 2015

Claremont Graduate University, School of Religion

  • 鈥淕hazali: Philosophy and Theology,鈥 Fall 2011

Stanford University, Introduction to the Humanities

  • 鈥淗umanistic Perspectives on Science,鈥 Winter and Spring 2009
  • 鈥淔ate of Reason,鈥 Winter and Spring 2008

UCLA, Philosophy Department

  • 鈥淭opics in Islamic Philosophy,鈥 Spring 2004, 2007

PhD Advising

I have supervised two successful PhD dissertations at Claremont Graduate University, School of Religion: Sana Tayyen 鈥淕hazali, Aquinas, and Lita鈥檃rafu: The Interaction between Reason and Revelation for Interreligious Understanding,鈥 2014.

Ozgur Koca 鈥淪aid Nursi鈥檚 Synthesis of Ash士arite Occasionalism and Ibn 鈥楢rab墨鈥檚 Metaphysical Cosmology: 鈥淒iagonal Occasionalism,鈥 Modern Science, and Free Will,鈥 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)