Abū’l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī’s Metaphysical Philosophy: The Kitāb al-Mu‘tabar

401 Pages·2017·1.737 MB·English

by  Moshe M Pavlov

Abū’l-Barakāt al- Baghdādī’s
Metaphysical Philosophy
Abū’l-Barakāt is a renowned philosopher of the Arabic-J ewish milieu who com-
posed in his magnum opus the Kitāb al-M u‘tabar, a comprehensive metaphysics
which challenged the accepted notions of the traditional metaphysical philosophy.
Abū’l-Barakāt al-B aghdādī’s Metaphysical Philosophy examines the novel
philosophical conceptions of the first book of the Metaphysics of the Kitāb al-
Mu‘tabar. The aim is to present a developed conception of Abū’l-Barakāt’s sys-
tematic metaphysics. This is accomplished by following the order of topics
discussed, while translating the relevant passages. These different topics com-
prise stages of cognition that move from an analysis of time, creation, and cau-
sality to the conception of a higher spiritual realm of mental entities and a
conception of God as the First Knower and Teacher. The epistemological and
ontological conceptions are analyzed at each culminating stage.
This book analyzes vast portions of the metaphysical study for the first time.
The book will thus be a valuable resource for all those seeking an original and
broad metaphysics, and for students and scholars of Jewish and Islamic Philo-
sophy. Furthermore, it is of importance for those seeking a metaphysics related
to scientific theories and those interested in the history of science and
metaphysics.
Moshe M. Pavlov studied philosophy at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
Israel, taking his B.A. and M.A. in philosophy and his doctorate in Jewish
Philosophy.
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Abū’l-Barakāt al- Baghdādī’s
Metaphysical Philosophy
The Kitāb al-M u‘tabar
Moshe M. Pavlov
First published 2017
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Moshe M. Pavlov
The right of Moshe M. Pavlov to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Pavlov, Moshe M., author.
Title: Abu’l-Barakat al-Baghdadi’s metaphysical philosophy : the Kitab
al-Mu’tabar / Moshe M. Pavlov.
Other titles: Routledge Jewish studies series.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2017. | Series:
Routledge Jewish studies series
Identifiers: LCCN 2016050410| ISBN 9781138640498 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781315636580 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Abu al-Barakat Hibat Allah ibn ‘Ali, active 1077–1164.
Mu’tabar. | Metaphysics. | Islamic philosophy. | Philosophy, Medieval.
Classification: LCC B748.A24 P378 2017 | DDC 181/.6–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016050410
ISBN: 978-1-138-64049-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-63658-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
Contents
List of illustrations ix
Preface x
An introductory overview to the metaphysical philosophy 1
1 An introduction to Abū’l-Barakāt’s metaphysical
philosophy 7
1.1 Introductory background to the conception of the existent and
existence 7
1.2 Conceptual influences upon Abū’l-Barakāt’s metaphysics 8
1.3 The fundamental ontological conceptions of the existent and
existence 11
1.4 Outlining the philosophy of Abū’l-Barakāt as presented in the
Metaphysics 19
1.5 Metaphysics and the structure of its principles 42
1.6 Abū’l-Barakāt’s Prolegomena to metaphysics 54
1.7 The series of topics of the Metaphysics 64
PART I
The theory of the existent interacting with existence
conceived by means of the second cognition 73
IPI.1 Introduction to Part I 73
IPI.2 Abū’l-Barakāt on the nature of the existent with
existence 74
IPI.3 The classification scheme of the interactive relationships 76
vi Contents
2 Interacting notions of the external world: on time, creation,
and causality 81
2.1 From substance to the interaction of the existent with
existence 81
2.2 Time as an adjunct to existence 83
2.3 The question of creation 102
2.4 On the notion of causality 108
3 The relationship of the existent to existence 134
3.1 Toward the conception of the First Existent-Existence 134
3.2 Existence and the existent studied separately 135
3.3 Abū’l-Barakāt’s summary of the theory of reference 136
3.4 On the new form of cognition 137
3.5 The proof and meaning of the First Existent-Existence 147
3.6 Toward the higher plateaus of the positive conception of
God 157
4 The nature of knowledge and the mental existents 162
4.1 Introduction and history of the theory of knowledge 162
4.2 Abū’l-Barakāt’s metaphysical theory of knowledge 166
4.3 The theory of the known 177
4.4 The meaningful representation for the mental forms 180
4.5 The mental existent of apprehension 183
4.6 The merging of knowledge with the notion of an existent 186
4.7 The conception of God’s knowledge and His cognition 188
4.8 The forms of mind, soul, and the organism 199
4.9 The principle of knowledge 203
5 The metaphysical attributes and the principle of origination 210
5.1 An introduction to the ontological themes 210
5.2 The nature of the attributes within the complex organic
existent 213
5.3 The elaboration of the principle of origination 226
5.4 The qualitative nature of the attributes and their
perfection 231
5.5 The conception of the living God 235
5.6 The relationship between cognition and action 237
5.7 The principles of the ontological existent and origination 240
Contents vii
PART II
The spiritual realm and the First Knower conceived by
means of the third cognition 245
IPII.1 Introduction to the conceptions of the spiritual realm 245
IPII.2 The direct third cognition of the spiritual realm 246
IPII.3 The ascending hierarchy leading to the cognition of
God 247
6 The theoretical nature of the metaphysical ipseitical
cognition 250
6.1 An introduction to the related conceptions of the third
cognition 250
6.2 Extending the principles of the logical-p sychological
system 252
6.3 The epistemological and ontological conception of the third
realm 267
6.4 Conceptions of God within the third cognition 269
6.5 The nature of the third cognition 272
7 The implementation of the practical philosophy concerning
the First Knower 276
7.1 An overview description of the First Knower and the special
cognition 276
7.2 Abū’l-Barakāt’s critique of the First Mover sustaining the
spheres 278
7.3 From the function of the organism to inherited innate
knowledge 286
7.4 The conception of the special cognition of God 290
7.5 The culminating conclusion to be drawn 292
7.6 The hierarchical order of the epistemological levels 294
7.7 Philosophical conceptions of the practical philosophy 296
8 Interpretations of Abū’l-Barakāt’s metaphysical philosophy 307
8.1 Toward interpretations of the topics of the Metaphysics 307
8.2 The conceptions underlying the metaphysical philosophy 308
8.3 The transformation of Plato’s worlds to Abū’l-Barakāt’s
realms 311
8.4 Reviewing the ontological notions of the Metaphysics 314
8.5 Filling the gaps of the epistemological hierarchy 317
8.6 On Abū’l-Barakāt’s theory of meaning 324
viii Contents
8.7 An interpretation of the existent with existence 328
8.8 Time and the forms within the epistemological hierarchy 331
8.9 The theory of altering forms and attributes 333
8.10 The three levels of conception 339
8.11 Meta- biology: Metaphysics implementing biological
conceptions 342
9 The conception of God of the Metaphysics 351
9.1 The epistemological hierarchy and the conception of God 351
9.2 The three stages in the cognition of God 352
9.3 Conceptions of God derived from the Aristotelian
tradition 355
9.4 The conception and proof of the Necessary Existent 360
9.5 The positive conceptions of God as the First Existent 365
9.6 The principles of metaphysics 367
Abū’l-Barakāt’s Metaphysics in the history of philosophy 371
The revival of a once flourishing philosophy 372
Glossary 378
Index 380
Illustrations
Figures
1.1 The functioning soul as an intermediate medium 31
8.1 The triadic conception of knowledge 320
Tables
1.1 Partial table of ascertainment 27
6.1 The two types of cognition 255
8.1 The ontological scheme 316
8.2 The table of ascertainment 323