In Chapter 3, The Rebirth of Philosophy and the Translations into Arabic
A slightly altered version of the following section has been published in: Robert Pasnau, ed. The Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy. Cambridge, 2010, 11–25.
Philosophy died a lingering death long before Islam appeared. The long demise started apparently with the reign of Diocletian (284–305 AD), as the social, demographic, administrative and other changes that would eventually lead to the end of the ancient world first set in; in consequence of these change…