The Emergence of the Distinction between Complete and Incomplete Causes from Avicenna to al-Abhari
Journal Title: Nazariyat İslam Felsefe ve Bilim Tarihi Araştırmaları Dergisi - Year 2017, Vol 4, Issue 1
Abstract
In this study, I explore the historical stages of the development of the distinction between complete and incomplete causes (al-ʿilla al-tāmma and al-ʿilla al-nāqiṣa), which first emerged during the thirteenth century and was frequently in use thereafter in philosophical and theological writings. For this purpose, I trace the evolution of one such passage in Avicenna’s (d. 428/1037) Ishārāt, namely, III.V.8, in the context of causal sufficiency during post-classical Islamic thought. Abū al-Barakāt al-Baghdādī (d. 547/1152), Suhrawardī (d. 587/1191), and Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210), all of whom provided the first examples of a concept of a complete cause, offer an important notion of this distinction. Moreover, we can read al-Rāzī’s definition of a complete cause in his al-Maṭālib, with regard to its function, as an attempt to include the divine will in the causal processes. However, none of those definitions present a clear distinction between these two types of causes that would enable one to provide a clear definition for a complete cause. The first examples of a clear distinction between these two causes are provided by Athīr al-Dīn al-Abharī (d. 663/1265) and Najm al-Dīn al-Kātibī (d. 675/1277). This distinction occupied an essential place in the chapters of causality included within philosophical and theological texts written after the thirteenth century.
Authors and Affiliations
Muhammet Fatih Kılıç
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP296315
- DOI 10.12658/Nazariyat.4.1.M0036en
- Views 118
- Downloads 0
The Possibility of Thinking on Existence: An Analysis Following the Traditions of Islamic Metaphysics
With reference to Islamic intellectual traditions, this article seeks to demonstrate the possibility of speaking about existence qua existence, namely, the possibility of metaphysical knowledge . In fulfilling this aim,...
A Mathematical Analysis of the Theory of Horizontal Sundials in the Ottoman Period: The Case of Risalah of Ruhama
As the prayer times are determined according the sun’s position, the theory of sundials, how to draw and design them, hold a significant place in the history of Islamic astronomy. All Muslim scientists working on applied...
A Fifteenth-Century Mamluk Astronomer in the Ottoman Realm: ‘Umar al-Dimashqī and his ‘ilm al-mīqāt corpus the Hamidiye 1453
The 15th century emergence of the Ottoman scientific endeavours occurred at a fortunate time when scientific knowledge in the Islamic world was already advanced. Since the Ottomans never had an intention to reinvent the...
Muhammad Amin al-Shirwani’s Treatise on Eschatology: An Analysis and Critical Edition of Risalah fi tahqiq al-mabda’ wa-al-ma‘ad
Muhammad Amīn al-Shirwānī was a seventeenth-century Ottoman thinker known for his works in the rational and traditional sciences. In this article, his treatise on the corporeal afterlife (ma‘ād al-jismānī) was analyzed,...
From Faculties to Functions: Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s Critique of Internal Senses
One of the basic questions of the classical theory of soul is the theory of internal senses. It is Avicenna who gave this theory its most elaborate form. While he effectively revised the theory of internal senses that he...