The Relationship between Ibn Sina and Peripatetic Philosophy (Historical Semantics of the Term Peripatetic)

The term Peripatetic is used in contemporary philosophical literature to exclusively refer to the philosophical method of Aristotle, his followers, Ibn Sina, and a number of Muslim philosophers. On the other hand, Ibn Sina himself, who is considered to be the leader of Peripatetic philosophers among Muslims, has advanced certain harsh criticisms against Peripatetics and denounced them. Presently, the questions that arise in this regard are as follows: Has Ibn Sina criticized Aristotle or his followers? If his criticism of Peripatetics are not related to Aristotle, does it equally target the Greek, Alexandrian, and Roman advocates of this school and the Peripatetics of Baghdad during the Islamic Period? Can we consider his criticism of the Peripatetics to be a reason for his deviation from the Peripatetic philosophy and turning to a kind of Oriental wisdom? In the present paper, while providing a historical and semantic review of the word “Peripatetic”, the author argues that three groups of Peripatetics (friends of Lyceum, Peripatetics of the third to sixth centuries, and the friends of the House of Wisdom) can be identified in the history of philosophy. Ibn Sina criticizes all the three groups, particularly the third one. Moreover, in his view, one can remove all the defects of the Peripatetic philosophy and then define its modified version in a way that everyone not only accepts it but also pays attention to and emphasizes it. This can be a good strategy for justifying the essence of his Oriental wisdom.