This book is an introduction to debates in philosophy within the
medieval Islamic world. It discusses a number of themes which were
controversial within the philosophical community of that period: the
creation of the world out of nothing, immortality, resurrection, the
nature of ethics, and the relationship between natural and religious
law. The author provides an account of the arguments of Farabi,
Avicenna, Ghazali, Averroes and Maimonides on these and related topics.
His argument takes into account the significance of the conflict between
faith and reason, religion and philosophy. The book sets out to show how
interesting these philosophical debates are, and criticizes the view
that these arguments are of no more than historical interest.