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A critique of causality in Islamic philosophy

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Abstract

After the problems of epistemology, the most fundamental problem of Islamic philosophy is that of causality. Causality has been studied from various perspectives. This paper endeavors first to analyze the issues of causality in Islamic philosophy and then to critique them. A sketch is provided of the history of the development of theories of causality in Islamic philosophy, with particular attention to how religious considerations came to determine the shape of the philosophical theories that were accepted. It is suggested that outstanding philosophical and theological problems that have plagued the tradition of Islamic philosophy require a new approach to the issue of causality.

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Notes

  1. Ibn Sina (1376/1997), first article, first section.

  2. Tabataba’i, ‘Usul-e Falsafah, vol. 5, 184.

  3. Tabataba’i, ‘Usul-e Falsafah, vol. 5, note on p. 226.

  4. Ibn Sina (1404/1983), vol. 3, 111.

  5. Ibn Sina (1376/1997), article 1, Sect. 1.

  6. For an example, see Ibn Sina (1403/1982), namat 3, Sects. 14 and 15.

  7. Ibid., Sect. 16.

  8. Wahl (1371/1992), p. 332.

  9. One of the arguments used for the immateriality of the soul in Islamic philosophy was that if the soul is a part of the body, it is smaller than the body, and what it contains must also be smaller than the human body. When we perceive large objects, however, e.g., mountains, stars and seas, these bodies exist in the soul in all their immensity. Hence, the soul is not a part of the body (Ed).

  10. In Islamic philosophy, concepts divide into primary and secondary. Primary concepts (or intelligibles) are, roughly, the descriptive properties of an object in the external world, including (immediate) genus and species. Secondary intelligibles divide into the philosophical and the logical. Philosophical intelligibles apply to entities in the external world while logical intelligibles apply only to concepts. See Misbah Yazdi (1999), p. 119ff (Ed).

  11. Kant (1370/1991), p. 90. [English translation by Jonathan Bennett at: http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/pdf/kantprol.pdf.]

  12. In this regard, I have presented my initial proposals in my book, Yasrebi (1383/2004), Sects. 7–9.

  13. Ibn Sina (1375/1996), article 1, Sect. 11, on the division of causes. See also Ibn Sina (1403/1982), namat 4, Sect. 5.

  14. Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book 12, Sects. 1 and 2.

  15. Ibn Sina (1403/1982), namat 3, Sects. 6–9.

  16. E.g., Ibn Sina (1403/1982), namat 3, Sects. 1–5.

  17. Ibn Sina (1403/1982), namat 4, Sect. 5.

  18. Ibid.; Ibn Sina (1375/1996), article 1, Sect. 11.

  19. Qur’an 3:83, 13:15, 7:54, 16:12 and other verses.

  20. Qur’an 1:4, 7:54.

  21. Qur’an 1:35, 30:27, 6:83, 36:82, 16:77, 57:2–3.

  22. Kindi (1950), p. 118; 34ff.

  23. Just as I have stated here explicitly, this evaluation only applies to Kindi’s treatment of causality. It does not apply to nature (tabi‘iyyat), medicine, mathematics, and other issues of philosophy.

  24. Ibn Sina (1403/1982), namat 6, Sect. 26.

  25. Kindi (1950), p. 34.

  26. Ibn Sina (1375/1996), article 1, Sect. 11.

  27. Ibn Sina (1403/1982), namat 5.

  28. Ibn Sina (1403/1982) begins the section on nature with the refutation of the theory that bodies are composed of atoms. Ibn Sina (1403/1982), namat 1, Sects. 1 and 2.

  29. Ibn Sina (1403/1982), namat 4, Sect. 7.

  30. Ibn Sina (1375/1996), article 1, Sects. 15 and 16; Ibn Sina (1404/1983) the first division, article 2, Sect. 11; Ibn Sina (1403/1982), namat 5, Sects. 4–6.

  31. Ibn Sina (1403/1982), namat 4, Sect. 8.

  32. Copleston (1375/1996), vol. 1, 44.

  33. For an example see Razi (1401/1981), vol. 1, 589f.; Miqdad (1405/1985), pp. 169–170.

  34. Ibn ‘Arabi (1366/1987), Sects. 1–4.

  35. Ibn Rushd (1421/2000), pp. 164–165.

  36. Ibn Sina (1375/1996), article 2, Sect. 35; Ibn Sina (1376/1997), article 9, Sect. 6.

  37. Yasrebi (1383/2004), Sects. 7–9.

  38. In Sufi theory, it is quite clear that the destiny of man is deterministic, for there is nothing in existence to rival the will of God. However, the free will of God is constrained because of the predestined manner in which God’s knowledge is made manifest with the instantiation of fixed entities in the sensible world.

  39. Ibn Sina (1403/1982), namat 7, Sects. 15 and 22.

  40. Kindi (1950), pp. 199–207.

  41. Ibn Sina (1403/1982), namat 5, Sect. 2.

  42. Ibn Rushd (1421/2000), p. 116.

  43. Ibn Rushd (1421/2000), p. 150.

  44. Qur’an 29:69 “If anyone strives toward us, we shall guide him to our path.”

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Correspondence to Yahya Yasrebi.

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This paper was written in Farsi and submitted for publication in this issue of Topoi. It was translated by Rizwan Arastu.

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Yasrebi, Y. A critique of causality in Islamic philosophy. Topoi 26, 255–265 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-007-9014-z

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