Inhaltszusammenfassung

If the philosophical discussion about the question whether the world existed from all eternity or was created in time were a story, it would start with some exegetical issues in Plato, introduce the Unmoved Mover of Aristotle, continue with some Neoplatonic ingenuity at the hands of Proclus, and end with even more ingenuity from Philoponus. That story would, then, have become so famous that it was worth translating into Arabic in a revised version by al-Kindī, to which Avicenna would write a ...If the philosophical discussion about the question whether the world existed from all eternity or was created in time were a story, it would start with some exegetical issues in Plato, introduce the Unmoved Mover of Aristotle, continue with some Neoplatonic ingenuity at the hands of Proclus, and end with even more ingenuity from Philoponus. That story would, then, have become so famous that it was worth translating into Arabic in a revised version by al-Kindī, to which Avicenna would write a sequel and al-Ġazālī the finale. Today, this trilogy would predominantly be sold with an elaborate, even if somewhat sterile, afterword by Averroes, and be celebrated as an epic classic, being reissued again and again in ever cheaper paperbacks. The story, however, would also have created a spin-off which only recently would have garnered some fame. This spin-off would introduce many new characters – among them Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Šahrastānī (d. 548/1153) and Abū l-Barakāt al-Baġdādī (d. 560/1164-5) – and continue the story after al-Ġazālī, with plenty of recurring elements but also with fresh material. Moreover, it would unfold in a new context: the philosophical milieu of the Islamic East, focusing in the first instalments on twelfth-century Baġdād, the capital city of the ʿAbbāsid caliphate and one of the most vibrant intellectual centres of the Selğūk empire. Both al-Šahrastānī and Abū l-Barakāt were thoroughly familiar with the philosophy of Avicenna. Indeed, they are notoriously known as two of his fiercest critics. They belonged to the intellectual elite in the philosophical milieu of Baġdād in the early twelfth century, each composing works in which they provided their own detailed discussion of God, the world, priority, relation, and eternity; yet, although drawing on the same materials and investigating the same question, they offered solutions entirely at odds with one another. In this paper, I shall investigate their positions, their arguments, and their sources regarding the question of the eternity of the world and the nature of God's priority to His creation.» weiterlesen» einklappen

Autoren

Klassifikation

DFG Fachgebiet:
Philosophie

DDC Sachgruppe:
Philosophie