Ahmed Alwishah
Professor of Philosophy
With Pitzer Since: 2009
Field Group: Philosophy
Campus Address: Scott Hall 220
Phone: 909.607.7732
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: See Faculty Directory
Related Information:
Curriculum Vitae (PDF)
Personal website
Pitzer News
Educational Background
PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
BA, Baghdad University
Areas of Specialization
Islamic Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Islamic Theology
Areas of Competence
Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language, and Logic
Fellowships and Awards
- 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
Publications
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 Suhrawardī’s Intimations: A Thirteenth Century Text On Natural Philosophy and Psychology, co-edited with Hossein Ziai, Mazda Publishers, 2002.
Articles in Refereed Journals
- “Taftazānī on the Liar Paradox: Truth, Goodness, and the “Irrational Root” (al- Jadhr al-aṣamm), co-authored with David Sanson, Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy, vol. 4, January 2017.
- “Avicenna on Animal Self-Awareness, Cognition and Identity,” Cambridge Journal of Arabic Sciences and Philosophy, February 2016.
- “Ibn Sīnā on Floating Man Arguments,” Journal of Islamic Philosophy, September 2015.
- “The Early Arabic Liar: The Liar Paradox in the Islamic World from the Mid- Ninth to the Mid-Thirteenth Centuries CE” co-authored with David Sanson, Vivarium Journal 47, 1999: 97-127.
Chapters in Edited Volumes
- “Suhrawardī and Ibn Kammūna on the Impossibility of Having Two Necessary Existents,” in Illuminationist Texts and Textual Studies, edited by Ali Gheissari, John Walbridge, and Ahmed Alwishah, Brill, forthcoming
- “Avicenna On Self-Cognition and Self-Awareness,” 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 Kammūna Saʿd Ibn Manṣūr” an entry in The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Islamic Philosophy, edited by Oliver Leaman. Continuum, 2006.
Works in Progress
Monograph
- Avicenna’s Philosophy of Mind and Body (Oxford University Press, under review)
Presentations
- “Doubt in Islamic Theology and Philosophy,” at Doubt and Faith in Islam and Judaism Symposium, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, February 2, 2018.
- “Avicenna on Animal Self-Awareness, Cognition and Identity” at 9e colloque international de la Société Internationale d’Histoire 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.
- “Ziai on the Distinction between Peripatetic and Illuminationist Epistemology” at 10th Biennial Iranian Studies Conference, Montreal, Canada, August 8, 2014.
- “Divine Knowledge and Human Self-Awareness” Clare Hall Colloquium Cambridge University, May 6, 2014
- “Avicenna On Self-Cognition and Self-Awareness” at the conference of British Association for Islamic Studies, Edinburgh, April 10, 2014.
- “Avicenna on God’s Knowledge of the Universe and Human Cognition” at the conference of Ancient Cosmos: Concord Among Worlds, Durham University, Department of Classics and Ancient History, September, 20-22, 2013.
- “Avicenna and the Sameness Thesis in Human and Divine Intellect” at Moody Conference in Medieval Philosophy, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, March 9, 2013.
- “Dialectical Disputation in Quran” at the Conference of Contemplating the Qur’an (Tadabbur al-Qur’an), Howard University School of Divinity, March 24-25, 2013.
- “Avicenna on Animals Self-Awareness” 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” at Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Early Modern Period: an Intramural Symposium for the Claremont Colleges, March 9, 2012.
- “Avicenna and Hume on Self-Knowledge” 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.
- “Avicenna on Human Existence and Self-Awareness,” 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.
- “Avicenna on Divine Self-Awareness and Human Self-Awareness” 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.
- “The Study of Islamic Philosophy in US,” Philosophy Department, Baghdad University, Art College, Iraq, January 2010.
- “Avicenna on Mental Language” 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.
- “What is God? An Investigation of the Divine Attributes In Islamic Theology and Philosophy,” Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Stanford University, 2008.
- “Learning in the Religious Traditions,” Honors program, University of California, Riverside, 2006.
- “Avicenna’s Concept of Intention,” The International Conference on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Fordham University, NY, 2006.
- “Avicenna on ‘I exist’ and Self-Awareness,” Moody Conference in Medieval Philosophy, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, 2006.
- “Self-Knowledge in Islamic Philosophy,” The Human Condition Conference, Victoria University, Victoria, Canada, 2005.
- “The Arabic Liar Paradox,” Moody Conference in Medieval Philosophy, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, 2004.
- “Avicenna and Descartes on ‘I exist.’” The International Conference on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Fordham University, NY, 2003.
- “Avicenna on the Faculty of Representation.” The 20th Annual Ancient and Medieval Philosophy Dialogue Among Civilizations Conference, Binghamton University, NY, 2001.
Service to Profession
Teaching Experience
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Pitzer College, 2015-present
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Pitzer College, 2009-15
- “Spinoza and Leibniz on Reality,” Spring 2011
- “God and Philosophy, Reason in Conflict,” Fall 2011 (with Yuval Avnur), Spring 2015
- “Islam vs. Islam,” Fall 2010, Fall 2014
- “Philosophy of Religion,” Spring 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015
- “Introduction to Philosophy,” Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2013
- “History of Ethics,” Spring 2009
- “Islamic Philosophy,” Fall 2009, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013
- “Philosophical Questions” (A First-year Seminar), Fall 2012, Fall 2015
Claremont Graduate University, School of Religion
- “Ghazali: Philosophy and Theology,” Fall 2011
Stanford University, Introduction to the Humanities
- “Humanistic Perspectives on Science,” Winter and Spring 2009
- “Fate of Reason,” Winter and Spring 2008
UCLA, Philosophy Department
- “Topics in Islamic Philosophy,” Spring 2004, 2007
PhD Advising
I have supervised two successful PhD dissertations at Claremont Graduate University, School of Religion: Sana Tayyen “Ghazali, Aquinas, and Lita’arafu: The Interaction between Reason and Revelation for Interreligious Understanding,” 2014.
Ozgur Koca “Said Nursi’s Synthesis of Ashʿarite Occasionalism and Ibn ‘Arabī’s Metaphysical Cosmology: “Diagonal Occasionalism,” Modern Science, and Free Will,” 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)
