Late Antique Philosophical Education, Miskawayh, and Paul the Persian: On the Division and the Ranks of Philosophy

Late Antique philosophical education followed the curriculum of the Neoplatonic school in Alexandria in which ethics played a role as propaedeuticum and as the practical part of philosophy informed by its theoretical part. Introductions to the study of philosophy, the so-called prolegomena emerged in teaching and educational contexts and became extremely wide-spread and popular. Material from such Late Antique introductions heavily influenced the Arabic speaking Muslim scholar and philosopher Miskawayh, his predecessors and contemporaries and formed their perception of the contents and aims of philosophy. This fact is illustrated by a discussion of the understanding of the knowledge of the Divine in Miskawayh and his contemporary al-Isfizārī. Further, one particularly influential Late Antique introductory text ascribed to Paul the Persian and attested in al-Fārābī as well as in Miskawayh is studied anew. In doing so, it is shown that Late Antique prolegomena material contributed to and influenced the philosophical and educational discourse, at least, until Miskawayh’s lifetime.