Ash‘arism encounters Avicennism : : Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī on Creation / / Laura Hassan.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2020 English
• VerfasserIn: Hassan, Laura,
• Place / Publishing House: Piscataway, NJ : : Gorgias Press, , [2020]; ©2020
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Language: English
• Series: Islamic History and Thought ; 19
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (329 p.)

This study of Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī’s (d. 631/1233) teachings on creation offers close analysis of all of his extant works of falsafa and kalām. Some of these were not known to previous scholars, yet they bear witness to key facets of the interaction between the historically inimical traditions of Hellenic philosophy and rational theology at this important intellectual moment. Al-Āmidī is seen to grapple with the encounter of two paradigms for the discussion of creation. On the one hand, Ibn Sīnā’s metaphysical concept of necessity of existence is the basis of his doctrine of the world’s pre-eternal emanation. On the other, for the mutakallimūn, the physical theory of atomism bolsters the view that God created the world from nothing. Though he begins with a posture of acceptance towards both the doctrines and methods of Ibn Sīnā, al-Āmidī gradually evolves to a position of hostility towards the entire philosophical tradition. Nevertheless, deep tensions are present in his thought; on the one hand, Ibn Sīnā’s notion of the sheer necessity of God’s existence is so compelling theologically that it becomes the mainstay of al-Āmidī’s understanding of the God-world relationship. Yet some of its more problematic implications are targets for al-Āmidī’s fierce opposition by the time of his mature works of kalām. Underlying all this is the often unstated, but all pervasive, influence of al-Āmidī’s highly successful peer, Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1210). This study is of interest to scholars of Ibn Sīnā and Ash‘arism alike, as it advances our understanding of the ongoing tradition of rational theology in the Islamic world, long past Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī’s (d. 505/1111) famous attack on the philosophers.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- TABLE OF CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- CHAPTER 1. AL-ĀMIDĪ’S LIFE AND WORKS -- CHAPTER 2. CONCEPTIONS OF CREATION IN ALĀMIDĪ’S INTELLECTUAL CONTEXT -- CHAPTER 3. CONCEPTIONS OF POSSIBILITY AND NECESSITY IN AL-ĀMIDĪ’S INTELLECTUAL CONTEXT -- CHAPTER 4. AL-ĀMIDĪ’S CONCEPTION OF POSSIBILITY AND NECESSITY -- CHAPTER 5. NATURAL PHILOSOPHIES IN AL-ĀMIDĪ’S INTELLECTUAL CONTEXT -- CHAPTER 6. AL-ĀMIDĪ’S NATURAL PHILOSOPHY -- CHAPTER 7. PRECEDENTS FOR AL-ĀMIDĪ’S DOCTRINE OF CREATION -- CHAPTER 8. AL-ĀMIDĪ’S DOCTRINE OF CREATION -- CONCLUSION -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDICES