Avicenna's Corporeal Form and Proof of Prime Matter in Twelfth-Century Critical Philosophy: Abū l-Barakāt, al-Masʿūdī and al-Rāzī

Shihadeh, Ayman

Abstract

This article explores a previously unknown twelfth-century debate surrounding Avicenna’s theory of matter, in particular his views that, being deprived of actuality, prime matter is non-corporeal, and that body is invested with corporeity by a substantial form impressed into matter known as corporeal form. Avicenna’s main proof of prime matter from body’s susceptibility to division was targeted earlier in the century by Abū l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī and Sharaf al-Dīn al-Masʿūdī, but was later reinterpreted and developed by Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, who brought this particular debate to a close. The problem, however, persisted as a puzzle that exercised later Arabic philosophers.

Citation

Shihadeh, A. (2014). Avicenna's Corporeal Form and Proof of Prime Matter in Twelfth-Century Critical Philosophy: Abū l-Barakāt, al-Masʿūdī and al-Rāzī. Oriens: Journal of Philosophy, Theology and Science in Islamic Societies, 42(2-4), 364-396. https://doi.org/10.1163/18778372-04203004

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: Feb 19, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 16, 2023
• Journal: Oriens: Journal of Philosophy, Theology and Science in Islamic Societies
• Print ISSN: 0078-6527
• Electronic ISSN: 1877-8372
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 42
• Issue: 2-4
• Pages: 364-396
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/18778372-04203004
• Publisher URL: http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/18778372-04203004
• Related Public URLs: http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/18778372-04203004