The Place of Philosophy and Theology in the Conceptualization of God by Nasir al-Din Tusi

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Payame Noor University, Rey

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Jurisprudence and Fundamentals of Law, Payame Noor University, Rey, Iran

Abstract

In Islamic philosophy and theology, God is called by various names, and the concepts used for the specific name of God are different. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi is among the philosophers and theologians, and his view of the issue of God benefits from both philosophical and theological perspectives. He has used Sane‘ (The Maker), Khalegh (The Creator), Bari (The Evolver), Allah (God), and also Wajeb al-Wojud (The Necessary Being) as the names of God, which are conceptually different. Our question in this article is: To what extent are the concepts used in Nasir al-Din al-Tusi's thought for God theological or philosophical? In conceptualizing God, did he make philosophy theological or theology philosophical? In this article, we examine the conceptualization of God by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi in three dimensions; structural, content, and methodological. In the structural dimension, the focus is on the arrangement of discussions in his works and their effect on the conceptualization of God. In the content dimension, we pay more attention to the concept of "God" and its characteristics in theology and philosophy and the extent to which Nasir al-Din Tusi is influenced by them in the conceptualization of God. Finally, in the methodological dimension, the emphasis is on Nasir al-Din al-Tusi's method of examining the issue of God, and we examine this method in the way of proving the existence of God, as well as explaining His attributes. At the same time, the place of theology and philosophy in the conceptualization of God becomes clear. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi is a theologian who has philosophized theology; we find the dominant philosophical view in the concept he has chosen for God and in proving the existence of God and expressing His attributes

Keywords

References

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Journal of Imamiyyah Studies
Volume 7, Issue 13 - Serial Number 13
September 2021
Pages 63-84

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