Avicenna’s Theory of Color and Color Perception in Its Greek, Arabic, and Latin Contexts

This dissertation explores how Avicenna developed his theory of color and visual perception through a deep engagement with the Greek tradition and its subsequent impact on the Latin West. Grounded in the Book of Healing, the research traces how he critically inherited and transformed the ideas of Presocratics, Platonists, Galenic physicians, and ancient opticians alongside Islamic theologians. By re-examining his conception of light, color, and the transparent medium, it was shown how Avicenna synthesized Peripatetic natural philosophy into an innovative framework that profoundly shaped medieval European optics and philosophy of mind.