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el-Ġazālī ve Descartes’ta Şüphecilik: Sami M. Najm’e Bir Cevap

Year 2024, , 583 - 597, 30.11.2024
https://doi.org/10.33227/auifd.1258110

Abstract

Bu makalede Sami M. Najm’in Ebū Ḥāmid el-Ġazālī’nin (1058-1111) ve Descartes’ın şüpheci argümanlarının şu açılardan aynı olduğu iddiası tartışılmıştır: (1) Her iki filozo-fun şüphe süreçlerinin duyu ve akıl bilgisine olan güvensizlik üzerine temellendirilmele-ri, (2) kesinliğe varma konusundaki motivasyonları, (3) şüphelerinin hem metodik hem felsefî bir niteliğe sahip olduğu, (4) şüpheciliğe çözümleri. Ben burada Najm’in birinci ve ikinci iddiasının haklı olduğunu ancak üçüncü ve dördüncü iddasının doğru olmadığını savunuyorum. Üçüncü iddiasının doğru olmama sebebi, el-Ġazālī’nin şüpheciliğinin felsefî, Descartes’ın şüpheciliğinin ise yöntemsel olmasıdır. Dördüncü iddiasının doğru olmama sebebi ise iki filozofun çözümlerinin sezgi temelli olmasına rağmen sezgiden kasıtlarının farklı olmasıdır. el-Ġazālī’ye göre bu sezgi ilahî bir nitelik taşırken, Descar-tes’ta zihinsel bir karakter taşımaktadır. Descartes’ın bir teist olarak nihaî manada bu sezgiyi Tanrı’ya dayandırması, onun zihinsel bir karaktere sahip olduğu gerçeğini değiş-tirmemektedir.

References

  • Alwahaib, Mohammad. “Al-Ghazali and Descartes from Doubt to Certainty.’’ Discusiones Filosóficas 18:31 (2007): 15-40. https://doi.org/10.17151/difil.2017.18.31.2.
  • Akdogan, Cemil. “Ghazālī, Descartes, and Hume: The Genealogy of Some Philosophical Ideas.” Islamic Studies 42:3 (2003): 487-502.
  • Albertini, Tamara. “Crisis and Certainty of Knowledge in al-Ghazālī (1058-1111) and Descartes.” Philosophy East and West 55:1 (2005): 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1353/pew.2004.0038.
  • Bakr, Osman. The History and Philosophy of Islamic Science. Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1999. Comesaña, Juan and Peter Klein. "Skepticism." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward N. Zalta and Uri Nodelman, Spring 2024 Edition. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2024/entries/skepticism/.
  • Descartes, René. “Rules for the Direction of Mind.” In The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Vol I. Trans. John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805042.
  • Descartes, René. “Discourse and Essays.” In The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Vol I. Trans. John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805042.
  • Descartes, René. “Principles of Philosophy.” In The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Vol I. Trans. John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805042.
  • Descartes, René. “Meditations on First Philosophy.” In The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Vol II. Trans. John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511818998.
  • Garber, Daniel. Descartes Embodied: Reading Cartesian Philosophy through Cartesian Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511605994.
  • al-Ghazālī, Abū Ḥāmid. Ihya Ulum-id-Din. Trans. Fazl-ul-Karim, Pakistan: Darul-Ishaat, 1993.
  • al-Ghazālī, Abū Ḥāmid. Kīmıyā-ı-Sa’ādat. Trans. Muhammad Asım Bilal, Pakistan: Kazı Publications, 2001.
  • al-Ghazālī, Abū Ḥāmid. “Deliverance from Error.” In Al-Ghazali’s Path to Sufism: His Deliverance from Error. Trans. R. J. McCarthy, Louisville: Fons Vitae, 2006.
  • Götz, Ignacio. “The Quest for Certainty: Al-Ghazālī and Descartes.” Journal of Philosophical Research 28 (2003): 1–22. https://doi.org/10.5840/jpr_2003_16.
  • Moad, Omar Edward. “Comparing Phases of Skepticism in al-Ghazālī and Descartes: Some First Meditations on Deliverance from Error.” Philosophy East and West 59:1 (2009): 88-101. https://doi.org/10.1353/pew.0.0034.
  • Najm, Sami M. “The Place and Function of Doubt in the Philosophies of Descartes and al-Ghazālī.” Philosophy East and West 16:3/4 (1966): 133-141. https://doi.org/10.2307/1397536.
  • Parvizian, Saja. “Al-Ghazālī and Descartes on Defeating Skepticism.’’ Journal of Philosophical Research 45 (2020): 133-148. https://doi.org/10.5840/jpr202045162.
  • Scott, David. "Occasionalism and Occasional Causation in Descartes' Philosophy." Journal of the History of Philosophy 38:4 (2000): 503-528. https://doi.org/10.1353/pew.0.0034.
  • Vogt, Katja. "Ancient Skepticism." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward N. Zalta and Uri Nodelman., Winter 2022 Edition. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2022/entries/skepticism-ancient.
  • Zamir, Syed Rizwan. “Descartes and al-Ghazālī: Doubt, Certitude and Light.” Islamic Studies 49:2 (2010): 219-251.

Skepticism in al-Ghazālī and Descartes: A Reply to Sami M. Najm

Year 2024, , 583 - 597, 30.11.2024
https://doi.org/10.33227/auifd.1258110

Abstract

This paper examines Sami M. Najm’s claim that Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī’s (1058-1111) and Descartes’ (1596-1650) skeptical arguments are similar in the following respect: (1) the process of doubt that depends on the distrust of sense perception and reason, (2) the motivation to arrive at certainty, (3) the nature of doubt being methodological and philosophical at the same time, and (4) their solution to doubt. I argue that while Najm’s first and second claim are to the point, Najm’s third and fourth points are not correct. This is because while al-Ghazālī’s skepticism was philosophical, Descartes’s doubt was methodological. It is true that their solution to doubt depends on intuition, but the character of their intuition is different because for al-Ghazālī it is a divine intuition whereas for Descartes it has a mental character. Although Descartes as a theist might ground the intuition on God, this does not change its mental character.

References

  • Alwahaib, Mohammad. “Al-Ghazali and Descartes from Doubt to Certainty.’’ Discusiones Filosóficas 18:31 (2007): 15-40. https://doi.org/10.17151/difil.2017.18.31.2.
  • Akdogan, Cemil. “Ghazālī, Descartes, and Hume: The Genealogy of Some Philosophical Ideas.” Islamic Studies 42:3 (2003): 487-502.
  • Albertini, Tamara. “Crisis and Certainty of Knowledge in al-Ghazālī (1058-1111) and Descartes.” Philosophy East and West 55:1 (2005): 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1353/pew.2004.0038.
  • Bakr, Osman. The History and Philosophy of Islamic Science. Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1999. Comesaña, Juan and Peter Klein. "Skepticism." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward N. Zalta and Uri Nodelman, Spring 2024 Edition. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2024/entries/skepticism/.
  • Descartes, René. “Rules for the Direction of Mind.” In The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Vol I. Trans. John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805042.
  • Descartes, René. “Discourse and Essays.” In The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Vol I. Trans. John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805042.
  • Descartes, René. “Principles of Philosophy.” In The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Vol I. Trans. John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805042.
  • Descartes, René. “Meditations on First Philosophy.” In The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, Vol II. Trans. John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511818998.
  • Garber, Daniel. Descartes Embodied: Reading Cartesian Philosophy through Cartesian Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511605994.
  • al-Ghazālī, Abū Ḥāmid. Ihya Ulum-id-Din. Trans. Fazl-ul-Karim, Pakistan: Darul-Ishaat, 1993.
  • al-Ghazālī, Abū Ḥāmid. Kīmıyā-ı-Sa’ādat. Trans. Muhammad Asım Bilal, Pakistan: Kazı Publications, 2001.
  • al-Ghazālī, Abū Ḥāmid. “Deliverance from Error.” In Al-Ghazali’s Path to Sufism: His Deliverance from Error. Trans. R. J. McCarthy, Louisville: Fons Vitae, 2006.
  • Götz, Ignacio. “The Quest for Certainty: Al-Ghazālī and Descartes.” Journal of Philosophical Research 28 (2003): 1–22. https://doi.org/10.5840/jpr_2003_16.
  • Moad, Omar Edward. “Comparing Phases of Skepticism in al-Ghazālī and Descartes: Some First Meditations on Deliverance from Error.” Philosophy East and West 59:1 (2009): 88-101. https://doi.org/10.1353/pew.0.0034.
  • Najm, Sami M. “The Place and Function of Doubt in the Philosophies of Descartes and al-Ghazālī.” Philosophy East and West 16:3/4 (1966): 133-141. https://doi.org/10.2307/1397536.
  • Parvizian, Saja. “Al-Ghazālī and Descartes on Defeating Skepticism.’’ Journal of Philosophical Research 45 (2020): 133-148. https://doi.org/10.5840/jpr202045162.
  • Scott, David. "Occasionalism and Occasional Causation in Descartes' Philosophy." Journal of the History of Philosophy 38:4 (2000): 503-528. https://doi.org/10.1353/pew.0.0034.
  • Vogt, Katja. "Ancient Skepticism." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward N. Zalta and Uri Nodelman., Winter 2022 Edition. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2022/entries/skepticism-ancient.
  • Zamir, Syed Rizwan. “Descartes and al-Ghazālī: Doubt, Certitude and Light.” Islamic Studies 49:2 (2010): 219-251.
There are 19 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Philosophy, Religious Studies
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Zeyneb Betül Taşkın 0000-0003-3950-2393

Publication Date November 30, 2024
Published in Issue Year 2024

Cite

Chicago Taşkın, Zeyneb Betül. “Skepticism in Al-Ghazālī and Descartes: A Reply to Sami M. Najm”. Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 65, no. 2 (November 2024): 583-97. https://doi.org/10.33227/auifd.1258110.

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