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- Title
Ebû’l-Kāsım el-Ka‘bî el-Belhî’de Bilgi.
- Authors
KOÇ, Zeynep Hümeyra
- Abstract
The views of Abū al-Qāsim al-Ka‘bī al-Balkhī (d. 319/931), one of the competent names of the Baghdādī School of Mu‘tazila, on knowledge constitute the main axis of this study. The main motivation for this study is the existence of strong arguments about knowledge in Abū al-Qāsim al-Balkhī’s work named ‘Uyūn al-masā’il wa-l-jawābāt. The arguments in question provide a context that increases importance of al-Balkhī for mutaqaddimun kalām. Considering the period in which al-Balkhī lived in the history of Kalām, it is difficult to say that the subject of knowledge was systematized yet. Accordingly, the subject of knowledge, which has an important place in the thought of al-Balkhī’s thought system, does not take place as an independent theory. However, in al-Balkhī, knowledge and related issues have strong foundations and conceptual richness that can create a framework for an independent theory. In the "Introduction" section of the study, which consists of three parts, the life, scientific personality, works and position of Abū al-Qāsim al-Balkhī in Mu‘tazila are discussed. The accounts in this section are important in terms of seeing where he and his ideas are in the historical process. The first chapter, which includes the possibility and nature of knowledge, the conceptual framework to which it is related, and the entity-knowledge relationship, discusses the framework of al-Balkhī’s knowledge theory in comparison with related approaches. al-Balkhī’s understanding of existence attracted attention with its detailed explanations and different paradigms at that time. For this reason, it shapes his epistemological approach. In the second part of the study, the forms of definition, classification and association developed by al-Balkhī in an original style on the types of information and ways of obtaining information are included. al-Balkhī’s comparative explanations between the ways of obtaining information show the feature of being punctual and detailed for the kalām of that period. al-Balkhī used the concept of mind as an act that includes a mental process, mostly together with the concept of rational inquiry. Even though it means reasoning, he considered it necessary for the possibility of rational inquiry and accepted it as a prerequisite for rational inquiry. He does not see the means of acquiring knowledge in the same category. It also does not reduce them to each other. According to him, the mind is not at the level of the senses in terms of being a measure of and creating knowledge. Because when the mind is reduced to the level of sense, it is not accepted as a measure. But the senses are also prioritized in terms of providing data to the mind. Khabar/report gains information value under the control of the mind. In this context, his evaluations on khabar almutawātir and khabar al-wāhid, which also point to his competence in hadith and methodology, are important in terms of being a methodological approach. On this basis, the accuracy value of both types of khabar/report is made dependent on its inference. In the last part of the research, the value of knowledge in theological and moral fields is discussed. al-Balkhī, starting from the fact that having knowledge is a necessity for human beings, revealed the value of this knowledge as knowing Allah theologically and acting on an informational basis morally. The cognitive basis of al-Balkhī’s understanding of morality has parameters that reveal that the determination of good and evil is rational. The epistemological perspective that al-Balkhī developed to understand God, man, the universe and the relationship between them is based on the concept of rational inquiry (naẓar). The main determinant of this reasoning process is evidence/proof (dalīl). According to al-Balkhī, the agent (nāẓır) follows the rational inquiry process with a certain methodology (tertīb and sunan), away from the society’s way of thinking, ideology (‘asabiyya), wish-desire (hawaa) and close familarities (ulfat); It should operate on the basis of sense data and a priori/badîhî information. This ensures both the accuracy of the information and the accuracy of the agent. al-Balkhī’s doctrine of the rational inquiry and nature/tab provides the possibility of his approach to tawlīd (generation). The meaning attributed to the rational inquiry makes the transfer of knowledge inevitable. According to the available data, al-Balkhī’s understanding of tawlīd on the basis of nature/tab‘ approach includes a necessary causality. But, this necessity does not mean determinism. Another area that al-Balkhī draws attention to is the nature doctrine on which he built his epistemology. According to him, the nature created by Allah is an intermediary; It is not independent and self-perpetrator. The perpetrator/subject of natures is Allah, who imprinted (tab‘) them onto existence. The fact that things exhibit a certain feature due to their nature does not show that nature is perpetrator, but also includes a process in which the will/irāda comes into play. al-Balkhī rejects the eternity of these natures, which he accepts. In theological epistemology, al-Balkhī’s ideas and method seem to have influenced the discussions that followed, and brought new perspectives or new areas of discussion to the thinkers who put knowledge on their agenda. In this context, although different views in (the Kalām) theological literature are used to understand the subject; in the comparative evaluation, the views of Mu‘tazilite theologians, especially Basra-Baghdad dialectics, were taken as basis. The study, based on Kitāb al-Maqālāt and ‘uyūn al-masā’il wa-l-jawābāt 3, aims to reveal the epistemology of Abū al- Qāsim al-Balkhī with its original aspects. Accordingly, how did al-Balkhī reveal the nature of knowledge in terms of existence and ways of acquiring knowledge? Can his point of view be evaluated objectively in an epistemological sense? Is the definition of knowledge a type of definition that puts people in the center? How is the knowledge of Allah handled in his approach to knowledge? How is the reflection of Allah’s being knower on human/realm (universe)? Is knowing Allah a necessity for man? Does imitation have any informational value? Is it possible to reach divine knowledge through taqlīd (imitation)? What is the theological status of those who reach this knowledge through taqlīd? What are the concepts that al-Balkhī uses in relation to knowledge in his theory of knowledge? Have these concepts been handled on an epistemic basis? Is it possible to talk about the theological and moral value of knowledge in terms of the knowing subject? What are the elements that determine the conception of morality on the basis of knowledge and its interpretation in the perspective of al-Balkhī? The answers to these and similar questions according to al-Balkhī and the consistency, objectivity and effects of these answers on his theological approach provide the main principles of the epistemological context.
- Subjects
BAGHDAD (Iraq); THEORY of knowledge; RELIGIOUS literature; SENSE data; GOOD &; evil; VALUES (Ethics); IDEOLOGY; VIRTUE epistemology; IMITATIVE behavior
- Publication
KADER, 2022, Vol 20, Issue 1, p544
- ISSN
2602-2710
- Publication type
Article