The Power and Limits of Reason: Al-Rāzī on the Possibility of General and Particular Metaphysical Knowledge
This article examines al-Rāzī’s views on the possibility of metaphysical knowledge. Firstly, after outlining his classification of the metaphysical knowable into essence and existence as well as undetailed (ijmālī) and detailed (taf~īlī), the article analyzes al-Rāzī’s acceptance of the possibility...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Scientific Studies Association (ILEM)
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Nazariyat: Journal for the History of Islamic Philosophy and Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://nazariyat.org/content/5-sayilar/15-cilt-7-sayi-2/4-esref-altas-metafizik-bilgi/4_esref_altas_en.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797923131935948800 |
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| author | Eşref Altaş |
| author_facet | Eşref Altaş |
| author_sort | Eşref Altaş |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article examines al-Rāzī’s views on the possibility of metaphysical knowledge. Firstly, after outlining his classification of the metaphysical knowable into essence and existence as well as undetailed (ijmālī) and detailed (taf~īlī), the article analyzes al-Rāzī’s acceptance of the possibility of general knowledge of metaphysics under a few headings by delving into some major themes. These include the claims that the category of existence is broader than the world of the sensible, that theoretical reasoning leads to metaphysical knowledge, and lastly that the theoretical evidence provides necessary knowledge about the existence of a creator. Al-Rāzī has also been demonstrated in al-Matālib to have inherited the arguments rejecting metaphysical knowledge, which he had attributed in his earlier works to a group with the name muhandisiyyūn, by restricting them to the issue of God’s essence being knowable. For al-Rāzī, theoretical reasoning could provide knowledge about the existence of a particular metaphysical being but not about its quiddity. The article further underlines the metaphysical and epistemic theses for the position on the unknowability of God’s essence and discusses its semantic interpretation. The debate on the potential of theoretical reason to provide uncertain knowledge of detailed metaphysics in the form of the best possible explanations (the metaphysics of the best explanation, or al-awlawiyya), however, is left to another article. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T14:42:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fa67d9546e664ce8a362f41c761cd701 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2547-9415 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T14:42:06Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | Scientific Studies Association (ILEM) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nazariyat: Journal for the History of Islamic Philosophy and Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-fa67d9546e664ce8a362f41c761cd7012023-02-15T16:08:08ZengScientific Studies Association (ILEM)Nazariyat: Journal for the History of Islamic Philosophy and Sciences2547-94152021-11-017212115510.12658/Nazariyat.7.2.M0156enThe Power and Limits of Reason: Al-Rāzī on the Possibility of General and Particular Metaphysical KnowledgeEşref Altaş0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9758-510Xİstanbul Medeniyet UniversityThis article examines al-Rāzī’s views on the possibility of metaphysical knowledge. Firstly, after outlining his classification of the metaphysical knowable into essence and existence as well as undetailed (ijmālī) and detailed (taf~īlī), the article analyzes al-Rāzī’s acceptance of the possibility of general knowledge of metaphysics under a few headings by delving into some major themes. These include the claims that the category of existence is broader than the world of the sensible, that theoretical reasoning leads to metaphysical knowledge, and lastly that the theoretical evidence provides necessary knowledge about the existence of a creator. Al-Rāzī has also been demonstrated in al-Matālib to have inherited the arguments rejecting metaphysical knowledge, which he had attributed in his earlier works to a group with the name muhandisiyyūn, by restricting them to the issue of God’s essence being knowable. For al-Rāzī, theoretical reasoning could provide knowledge about the existence of a particular metaphysical being but not about its quiddity. The article further underlines the metaphysical and epistemic theses for the position on the unknowability of God’s essence and discusses its semantic interpretation. The debate on the potential of theoretical reason to provide uncertain knowledge of detailed metaphysics in the form of the best possible explanations (the metaphysics of the best explanation, or al-awlawiyya), however, is left to another article.https://nazariyat.org/content/5-sayilar/15-cilt-7-sayi-2/4-esref-altas-metafizik-bilgi/4_esref_altas_en.pdffakhr al-dīn al-rāzīmetaphysicsnegative theologygod’s essencegod’s existencegeneral metaphysics |
| spellingShingle | Eşref Altaş The Power and Limits of Reason: Al-Rāzī on the Possibility of General and Particular Metaphysical Knowledge Nazariyat: Journal for the History of Islamic Philosophy and Sciences fakhr al-dīn al-rāzī metaphysics negative theology god’s essence god’s existence general metaphysics |
| title | The Power and Limits of Reason: Al-Rāzī on the Possibility of General and Particular Metaphysical Knowledge |
| title_full | The Power and Limits of Reason: Al-Rāzī on the Possibility of General and Particular Metaphysical Knowledge |
| title_fullStr | The Power and Limits of Reason: Al-Rāzī on the Possibility of General and Particular Metaphysical Knowledge |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Power and Limits of Reason: Al-Rāzī on the Possibility of General and Particular Metaphysical Knowledge |
| title_short | The Power and Limits of Reason: Al-Rāzī on the Possibility of General and Particular Metaphysical Knowledge |
| title_sort | power and limits of reason al razi on the possibility of general and particular metaphysical knowledge |
| topic | fakhr al-dīn al-rāzī metaphysics negative theology god’s essence god’s existence general metaphysics |
| url | https://nazariyat.org/content/5-sayilar/15-cilt-7-sayi-2/4-esref-altas-metafizik-bilgi/4_esref_altas_en.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT esrefaltas thepowerandlimitsofreasonalrazionthepossibilityofgeneralandparticularmetaphysicalknowledge AT esrefaltas powerandlimitsofreasonalrazionthepossibilityofgeneralandparticularmetaphysicalknowledge |