Durham E-Theses The philosophy of Abu' L-Barakat al-Baghdadi with special reference to his concept of time Dag, Mehmet How to cite: Dag, Mehmet (1970) The philosophy of Abu' L-Barakat al-Baghdadi with special reference to his concept of time, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/8038/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 The Philosophy of Abu'1-Barakat al-Ba^dacLl with special reference to His concept of Time. by Mehmet Dag, B.A. (Ankars/TiRKEY) Graduate Society,Durham, A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Duiham, August. 1970. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. ABSTRAGT. The Philosophy of Abu* l-BaraJcat with special reference to His Soncept of Time - Abu'l-Barakat's philosophy ia detemined by his critical attitude against the Aristotelian philosophy on one hand and by his appeal to the immediate perceptions of the mindvOAiVie o'tWer, He was bom at Balad nearby Bagdad in 465 A.H./IO74 A.D. Having studied at Bagdad, towards the end of his life, he became a Muslim either out of wounded pride or out of fear. He classified sciences into the sciences of existing things which include Physics and Metaphysics; and the sciences of mentally related forais, i.e., Psycholo^; and the science of sciences, i.e. Logic. Space, according to him, is conceived in the mind prior to everything else as tridimen• sional, and as capable of being full or empty. The prime matter is iden• tical with the corporeal body. In his theory of motion, his originality lies in his explanation of the motion in the void, accelerated motion, and the quies media. His revolutionary attitude is perhaps best exemplified in his Psychology. According to him, we have an immediate perception of our soul together with existence and time. Every theory which explains soul in terms of faculties or forces is repugnant to him. In the Metaphysics, Abu'l-Barakat identifies universals with the mental fom*. The forms that exist in the mind of God are the causes of the things existing in external reality. God is the direct existentiating cause of eveiything. Existence, which forms one of our primary apperceptions, is superadded to the things that are existent. Existence, and existent are identified in God. His comception of God is detemined by his human psychology. The difference between God and man is one of degree. He identifies celestial bodies with ' angels'. They are the preserver of the species, guides and instructors, Avicenna, having eliminated the difficulties inherent in time, held that time is a measure of motion with respect to prior and posterior. He stressed the continuous nature of time,. Time, eternal duration, and perpetuity belong to the different domains of the universe, Avicenna, by identifying time *ith the continuity itself, however, may have prepared the way for the identification of time with duration. In Hellenistic philosophy, this trend started as a reaction etgainst the Aristotelian view. In al-Kindl, we find the traces of Abu'1-Barakat's theory. According to him, the time of a corporeal body is the duration of its existence. Iranshahrl, and al-Razx, under the influence of Galen, identify time with duration, and divide it into absolute and limited. This trend culminates in Abu'l-Barakat's theory of time. He puts time, existence, and soul on the same plane in so far as our primary consciousness of them is concerned. Tisie, being insep• arable from existence, must be defined as the measure or the dimension of existence rather than as that of motion. God, being the existence per se, cannot be beyond time. Time, duration, end perpetuity are all one and the same thing. By discarding these distinctions, he unifies the visible and spiritual worlds. The difference between them is only one of degree, otherwise they are caosely related to each other. IV. AdgTOWLEDGEIVIElNfTS ' I would like to express my gratitude for his valuable help in the preparation of this Thesis, to Dr. R. ff. J. Austin, who kindly undertook the supervision of this work. I also thank the Oriental and University Library staff for their help. TABLE OF OQMPENTR. Page No. Section I. Abu'l-BarakSt and Outlines of His Philosophy. Life 1 Outlines of Abu'1-Barakat's Philosophy 11 I. Classification of Sciences 12 II. Physics 16 a) Space, Vacuuiii and Infinity 16 b) Matter and Form 37 • c) Motion 45 III. Psychology 68 IV. Metaphysics 93 Section II. Time Time 135 Difficulties concerning the reality and unreality of time 13^ Various Untenable Definitions of Time 141 I. The Aristotelian View of Time 147 Time and Motion 147 Time as Measure and as Number 149 Time and the Now 151 d.) The Reality of Time 154 e) The Ultimate Cause of Time I56 f) Things that are in Time 16O g) The Attributes of Time 162 h) Time and Avicenna's Philosophy I64 II. Reactionc; against the Aristotelian View of Time 166 III. aiime as Duration 182 IV. Absolute and Limited Time 193 V. Abn'1-Barakat's Theory of Time 201 Is Tims connected with Motion 202 Time and Existence 211 Time, God and Creation 217 The Reality of Time 220 Time and Abu'l-Barakat's Philosophy 223 Conclusion 230 SECTION I. Abil'1-Barakat ^and Outlines of His Philosophy. 1, Life. Abp'1-Barakat Hibat Allah b. ^11 b, Malka (or Malkan) al-Baladi: In connection with his birthplace 'Balad' he was called Baladi (i.e, of Balad). But he was generally known under the naiae of Abu' 1-Barakat al Baghdad!, due to the fact that at an early age he left his birthplace for Bs^^dad with a purpose of study. He was also called Awhad al-Zaraan (Unique of his time), PaylasElf al-^raqayn and Sahib al-Mu«^tabar. ^ About the date of his birth as well gis of his death, there is a difference of opinion among the biographersj according to Tatimmah siwan al-hikmah, he died in (5^7 A.H./-|15if) • he lived, as one version asserts, about 90 years, it is possible that he was bom about (454 A.H./1062), If we accept the other version, he lived 80 years, 2 so he must have been born in (465 A.H./1074). Shahrazurl and al- Qiftl are of the opinion that he died about the half of the 6th century Hicra. ^ 1 .al-QiftT,A6ibar al-Hukama', (Cairo,1326H.) ,p.224;Ibn AbT Usaybfa, «Uyun al-anba» fi tabaqat al-atibba'*,ed.by Mflller,(Cairo, 1882), vol.I,f,278;Bayhaqt,Tatimraah siwah al-ljikmah, (Lahore, 1351/1932), p.150;Ibn Khallikan,Wafayat ai-A*^yan,ed.by Wilstenfeld,2vols., (Gbttingen, 1835-1843) ,tr,by M.de Slane,(Paris, 1888),vol,III,p.60O. 2.Bayhacft, op. cit. ,pp. 150f. ;ShahrazurT,Nuzhat al-arwa^,tr.into Persian under the title of "Kanz al-hikmah" by Diya? al-Din Durri, (Teheran, 1316H.),P.103. 3 .ShahrazurT, op. cit. ,p. 102 j Qif t x, op. cit. ,p. 224, 2. Abu' 1-BaraJcat studied in Baj^dad under a famous physician, Abu'l-fasan Sa^ld-JiHibat Allah al-Is^ahanl (d, 495/1102). At first, being a Jew, he had some difficulty in attending to the lectures of this renowned physician, who had a rule against accepting Jews and Christiajis as students, so he acquired a position as an assistant to Abu' l-Hasan* s door-keeper to be able to listen to the lectures from the vestibule. He was very attentive to the lectures. One day, a question which had already been studied cropped up, no one was able to answer. Seeing this, Abtl'l-BarakSt came up and answered the question. Satisfied with his answer, the renowned teacher broke his rule and accepted him as one of his students, ^ This is the only teacher, we gather from the accounts given by his biographers. Prom the environment in which he lived we may infer, however, that he had a sound knowledge of Kal- - 2 am and philosophy. He served as a physician at the court of the Caliph Mustadi* bi-'amr Allah (d, 566/117O), In the same capacity he also served the Caliph ,:bl-Mustanjid billah (d. 555/ll60) and M-Mustar^id (d.5l2/l1l8). He was consulted by various Seljugl sultans. 1 .U?aybia,op.cit. ,pp.278-9jShahrazurT,op.cit. ,p.103. 2.1bn Taymiyah,Minhaj al-Sunnah,vol.1,(ed.Misr,l32l),p.96, 3.YaqiIt,The learned Men's Dictionary,vol.VI,bk.7,(London,1926),p.2U.; Usaybxa,op.cit.,vol.I,p.279;BayhaqT,op.cit.,p,151. 3, Late in life he turned Muslim.