Some Observations on Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī's Epistemology and Philosophy of Nature

Abstract

UDK
28-428 Razi F.
28-1

The aim of this paper is to shed light on selected epistemological and natural-scientific issues within the theological-philosophical corpus of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, which demonstrates that kalām (Islamic theology) can indeed represent a fertile ground for further exploration of the most difficult philosophical questions. Al-Razi’s theological thought does not overlook any of the major philosophical issues of the intellectual tradition preceding him. His rational approach, whose goal is to illuminate religious doctrines concerning God, creation, and the world, as well as their interrelationship, simultaneously reconstructs and critically examines the dominant theological and philosophical views of his time. Therefore, the rational arguments concerning substance and accident, space and time, emptiness and motion - briefly presented in this paper - outline a period in which kalām evolves into a philosophically engaged discipline, while still remaining aligned with theological objectives.