%0 Journal Article
%T The Dominant Islamic Philosophy of Knowledge
%A Hassan Ajami
%J Open Access Library Journal
%V 3
%N 2
%P 1-5
%@ 2333-9721
%D 2016
%I Open Access Library
%R 10.4236/oalib.1102264
%X The Arab-Islamic culture is certainty-oriented, such that most Arabs and
Muslims consider their beliefs to be certainties. This enabled the
traditionalist philosophical school of knowledge to be dominant in the Arab-Islamic
world. Both Muslim philosophers Al-Ghazali and Ibn Taymiyyah articulated the
dominant philosophical theory of knowledge. While Al-Ghazali claimed that God
creates knowledge in us, Ibn Taymiyyah held that knowledge is justified true
belief or a set of beliefs presented by an infallible person, such as the
prophet Muhammad. Both philosophers provided a traditionalist account of
knowledge, according to which, God is the ultimate source of any genuine
belief. Their conceptions of knowledge became dominant in the Arab-Islamic
world because their theories of knowledge cohere with the fact that the
Arab-Islamic culture is certainty- oriented. The best way to maintain that
one¡¯s beliefs are certainties, <i>i.e</i>.
absolutely true and unchangeable, resides in holding that they are the products
of God Himself. In addition, one¡¯s theory of meaning and causation is related
to one¡¯s conception of knowledge. While Ibn Taymiyyah¡¯s account of meaning
paved the way for his endorsement of his unique theory of knowledge,
Al-Ghazali¡¯s conception of causal relationships, as being unnecessary, led him
to accept the traditionalist view that God creates knowledge in us.
%K Islamic Philosophy of Knowledge
%K Certainty-Oriented Culture
%K Meaning
%K Causation
%K Al-Ghazali
%K Ibn Taymiyyah
%U http://www.oalib.com/paper/3154194