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A Naturalistic Explanation of Miracles: The Case of Ibn Sina

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dc.contributor.authorACAR, RAHİM
dc.contributor.authorsAcar, Rahim
dc.date.accessioned2022-03-12T20:31:20Z
dc.date.available2022-03-12T20:31:20Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.description.abstractIn this article I focus on Ibn Sn's explanation of miracles and argue that he accepts the occurrence of miracles as extraordinary events, despite his theory of the necessity of everything. His explanation of miracles may be considered naturalistic, since it does not require an exceptional divine intervention. First, I analyze Ibn Sn's theory of miracles, then I relate it to his explanation of the functioning of the universe. I try to answer how it might be possible to accept both the necessary causal nexus within the world and the occurrence of miracles as violations of the natural laws. Finally, I take into account al-Ghazl's critique of philosophers, including Ibn Sn, on their acceptance of a necessary connection between causes and effects, a critique supposedly aimed at saving the possibility and actual occurrence of miracles. I try to make sense of al-Ghazls text, vis-a-vis the fact that Ibn Sina did not deny the occurrence of miracles, and the fact that his theory provides a possible explanation thereof. Hence, I argue that the real issue between al-Ghazli and the philosophers he attacked regarding the purportedly necessary connection between causes and effects is not the possibility of miracles, but the proper conception of God.
dc.identifier.doi10.3138/tjt.33.suppl_1.161
dc.identifier.eissn1918-6371
dc.identifier.issn0826-9831
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/11424/234278
dc.identifier.wosWOS:000400772000009
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherUNIV TORONTO PRESS INC
dc.relation.ispartofTORONTO JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subjectIbn Sina
dc.subjectmiracles
dc.subjectnaturalistic explanation
dc.subjectal-Ghazali
dc.subjectconception of God
dc.subjectCAUSALITY
dc.titleA Naturalistic Explanation of Miracles: The Case of Ibn Sina
dc.typearticle
dspace.entity.typePublication
local.avesis.id244109e0-af87-453d-bf3d-a0cd1d7983cd
local.import.packageSS17
local.indexed.atWOS
local.indexed.atSCOPUS
local.journal.numberofpages13
oaire.citation.endPage173
oaire.citation.startPage161
oaire.citation.titleTORONTO JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY
oaire.citation.volume33
relation.isAuthorOfPublication77de7b8e-3c96-4cf6-b119-e59ba9d37b2f
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery77de7b8e-3c96-4cf6-b119-e59ba9d37b2f

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