The Incoherence of the Philosphers (1)
DANCING IN THE DARK
These days it can be hard to keep a balance and keep the truth when thinking about Islam. All kinds of Islamic governments are basing their foreign policy on the ignorant premise that "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is a guide to Israeli thinking. The Protocols are well-known to be a nineteenth century Russian forgery aimed at inciting anti-semiticism. You wonder what to say to anyone who hasn't bothered to verify the major document behind their foreign policy. Then you see the continual fauxtography frauds exposed in the Lebanon war. It's evident that this has been going on all along. The amount of falsehood is sickening and the ignorance, hatred, cruelty, and indifference to truth that fosters it all is a portrait of a sick society.
DESTROYING PALESTINE TO SAVE IT
Then you listen to the Iranian who wants to get his finger on the trigger of a nuclear weapon SO THAT HE CAN PULL THE TRIGGER. I mean - anything that hit Israel would blow radioactive dust all over the east end of the Mediterranean, Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and part of Syria - right away. Look at a map sometime - Israel is tiny. It's like they say - Israel is tiny - and surrounded by large states with large populations. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, where does the Iranian think the radioactive dust will mainly go? And what does he mean by saying he'll get Palestine for the Palestinians by sprinkling the area - and very likely them - with radioactive dust? And then ...the wind blows west, he wrecks the Mediterranean, the wind blows east and back the stuff comes on Iraq passing over and poisoning the Al-Aqsa mosque on the way. The wind - another Zionist plot. Or what if the bomb misses Haifa or Tel Aviv and detonates in the Mediterranean - won't this cause a tsunami-like wave that will drown low-lying Egypt and wreck the Mediterranean? Libya, Tunisia, Morocco - will they be grateful for that?
AL-GHAZLI - VOICE OF ANOTHER AND BETTER ISLAM
Anyhow, as a Christian, I want to keep a place in my heart for Islamic believers despite the current prominence of a band of hate-filled, ignorant liars. They aren't the only people in Islam and this isn't the only time Islam has been on the world stage. So I turned to other years and other teachers in Islam and I found the great Al-Ghazli, author of The Incoherence of the Philosophers. I liked him a lot and I thought I'd post his work in sections with a few comments from time to time. He really shows that the present band of ignorant liars are a decadent form of Islam. What's probably the most surprising part so far is reading his discussions of the "outside" of the universe and what came "before" time. His views and those of Avicenna are those advanced as new by Einstein and others.
Then, too, though he lived in the eleventh century, Al-Ghazli was sure that that the earth went round the sun and that eclipses were caused by the lineup of the sun and moon.
He distinguished the problems important to religion from all other philosophical problems, saying that a teacher in Islam should only be concerned with the problems relevant to religion.
BANNED IN TURKEY
It's strange that his name and his work should be associated with the movement in Islam which put an end to free inquiry but this is the historical fact. As a result his work was banned in Turkey by Kemal Ataturk as part of Ataturk's modernizing program. It's still banned there. Maybe I haven't gotten to the bad parts yet. But I think Al-Ghazli was probably misused by a lot of people who never bothered to read him - the type we have with us today who love reading the Protocols and bathing in hatred.
AL-GHAZLI AND THE PROBLEM OF PHILOSOPHICAL DOUBT
Al-Ghazli lived in the twelfth century. The philosopher we call Avicenna was roiling the waters in the Islamic world. Those who followed him were losing their faith in Islam. "Their doubt is the outcome of their being deceived by embellished imaginings akin to the glitter of the mirage" says Al-Ghazli. He wanted to return men to an understanding of that God who one day would reward his faithful with a Paradise "from whose heights the greatest ascents of the understanding stand low and from whose distant stretches the utmost reaches of the arrows of the imagination waste away", with a bliss which '"neither eye has seen nor ear, heard, nor has occurred to the heart of men,”'. He wanted to return men to the true teaching of Muhammad and his companions "pure keys of guidance and lanterns in the dark." We don't have to agree with him to see he was a man to respect.
THE PLAN OF ACTION
I'll give an overview of the sections and then precede each section with a few bolded sentences explaining what I think Al-Ghazli is saying. Let me make it clear too that I have taken out all the parentheses which the translators used when they added phrases to make it clear to what or whom Al-Ghazli was referring. And I have sometimes added in "Avicenna", "Avicenna's followers", "the Greek Philosophers" and other similar expressions where Al-Ghazli is translated as saying "they", "their", "these" and other pronouns. In English it's easier to understand Al-Ghazli if his frequent references to the other side of the dispute are made concrete.
TODAY'S SECTIONS
Al-Ghazli begins with a prayer for enlightenment. "We ask God ... to make us among those who saw the truth as truth, preferring to pursue and follow its paths, and who saw false as false, choosing to avoid and shun it." Then he explains the problem as he saw it. The philosophers were attracting people away from Islam. Yet it could be shown that it was not the great Greek philosophers but their interpreters (Avicenna) who were irreligious. Furthermore, the followers of Avicenna who accuse believers of being mere "imitators" were themselves merely "imitating" Avicenna. To prove this Al-Ghazli intends to show that Avicenna is involved in logical contradictions which his followers ignore because they are not thinking philosophically as they claim but following or "imitating" like the believers. There is this difference between them and the believers however - they are imitating error.
ASKING GOD'S BLESSING ON THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH
In The Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
We ask God in His majesty that transcends all bounds and His munificence that goes beyond all ends to shed upon us the light of His guidance and to snatch away from us the darkness of waywardness and error; to make us among those who saw the truth as truth, preferring to pursue and follow its paths, and who saw false as false, choosing to avoid and shun it; to bring us to the felicity He promised His prophets and saints; to make us attain that rapture and gladness, favored bliss and joy (once we depart from this abode of delusion) from whose heights the greatest ascents of the understanding stand low and from whose distant stretches the utmost reaches of the arrows of the imagination waste away; to grant us, after arriving at the bliss of paradise and emerging from the terror of the judgment day, that which "neither eye has seen nor ear, heard, nor has occurred to the heart of men,” and that He may bestow His prayers and His assured peace upon the prophet, the chosen, Muhammad, the best of men, and upon his virtuous family and his companions pure keys of guidance and lanterns in the dark.
THERE IS A PROBLEM OF UNBELIEF AMONG SOME OF THE ISLAMIC INTELLIGENTSIA
I have seen it: there are those who, believing themselves better than their companions and peers by virtue of a superior quick wit and intelligence, have rejected the Islamic duties regarding acts of worship, disdained religious rites pertaining to the offices of prayer and the avoidance of prohibited things, and belittled the devotions and ordinances prescribed by the divine Law, not halting in the face of its prohibitions and restrictions. On the contrary, they have entirely cast off the reins of religion through various other beliefs, following therein a troop “who [leave and shun] God’s way, intending to make it crooked, who are indeed disbelievers in the hereafter” [Qur’an 11:19].
THE JEWS AND THE CHRISTIANS IMITATE. THE INTELLIGENTSIA IMITATE. THE JEWS AND CHRISTIANS IMITATE THEIR FOREFATHERS; THE ISLAMIC DOUBTERS IMITATE THE PHILOSOPHERS IN SPECULATING AND EVEN MERELY IMAGINING ABOUT HOW THINGS ARE.
There is no basis for the Islamic doubters unbelief other than traditional, conventional imitation just exactly like the imitation of Jews and Christians. In the case of Jews and Christians their upbringing and that of their offspring has followed a course other than the religion of Islam, their fathers and forefathers having followed these religions without thought. This group of philosophical doubters imitates what they know of speculative investigation, which is unbelief. The unbelief is the consequence of their stumbling over the tails of sophistical doubts in their investigation of beliefs and opinions, doubts that divert from the direction of truth. Their doubt is also the outcome of their being deceived by embellished imaginings akin to the glitter of the mirage, This has happened to groups of speculative thinkers, followers of heretical innovation and whim.
THE GREEK PHILOSOPHERS HAVE A GREAT NAME AND THE LEADERS IN UNBELIEF (AVICENNA) EXAGERRATE THESE PHILOSOPHERS' INTELLIGENCE AND LEARNING, ADDING THAT THESE MIGHTY MINDS REJECTED REVEALED RELIGION AND ITS TEACHING AS MAN-MADE LAWS AND TRICKS.
The source of their unbelief is their hearing high-sounding names such as “Socrates,” “Hippocrates,” “Plato,” “Aristotle,” and their like, and the exaggeration and misguidedness of certain of the followers of these philosophers in describing their minds, the excellence of their principles, the exactitude of their geometrical, logical, natural, and metaphysical sciences, and in describing the philosophers as being alone -by reason of excessive intelligence and acumen- capable of extracting these hidden things; the source of philiosophical unbelief is also hearing what [Avicenna and his followers have to say about Aristotle, Plato and Socrates which is] that the certainty of their intellect and the abundance of their merit runs along with denial of revealed laws and religious confessions and rejection of the details of religious and sectarian teaching, the greatest philosophers believing these laws and teachings to be man-made laws and embellished tricks.
WHEN SOME OF THE ISLAMIC INTELLIGENTSIA HEARD AVICENNA'S ATTACK ON RELIGION THIS AGREED WITH SOMETHING IN THEMSELVES. THEY PUT ON AND WORE PHILOSOPHICAL UNBELIEF LIKE THE LATEST FASHION IN THE MOST EXPENSIVE CLOTHES. THEY FEEL PHILOSOPHICAL UNBELIEF IS A VIRTUE WHICH EXALTS THEM ABOVE THE COMMON MASS OF BELIEVERS WHO THEY SEE AS MERE IMITATORS OF THE RELIGION OF THEIR FATHERS. IN FACT AVICENNA'S FOLLOWERS ARE IMITATING ALSO AND WHAT THEY ARE IMITATING IS ERROR.
When this struck the hearing of some of the Islamic intelligentsia, that which was reported by Avicenna of the Greek philosophers’ unbelief finding agreement with their nature, they adorned themselves with the embracing of unbelief, siding with the throng of the virtuous who are Avicenna's followers, as they claim, affiliating with them, exalting themselves above aiding the masses and the commonality, and disdaining to be content with the religious beliefs of their forebears. They have done this, thinking that the show of cleverness in abandoning the imitation of what is true by embarking on the imitation of the false is a beauteous thing, being unaware that moving from the one to the other is folly and confusedness.
IMBECILES ARE SMARTER THAN AVICENNA'S FOLLOWERS BECAUSE IMBECILES DO NOT HASTILY EMBRACE ERROR WITH PRIDE AND WITHOUT VERIFICATION
What rank in God’s world is there that is lower than the rank of one who adorns himself with the abandonment of the truth that is traditionally believed by the hasty embracing of the false as true, accepting it without reliable report and verification? The imbeciles among the masses stand detached from the infamy of this abyss; for there is no craving in their nature to become clever by emulating those who follow the ways of error. Imbecility is thus nearer salvation than acumen severed from religious belief; blindness closer to wholeness than crosseyed sight.
WHEN I SAW WHAT WAS HAPPENING I DECIDED TO WRITE THIS BOOK WITH TWO POINTS IN MIND. I WANTED TO SHOW THAT THE GREATEST OF PHILOSOPHERS DISAGREE AMONG THEMSELVES AND WITHIN THEMSELVES ON METAPHYSICAL ISSUES TO THE POINT OF INCOHERENCE BUT THAT THEY AGREE THAT THERE IS A GOD AND A JUDGEMENT DAY. ONLY A FEW PERVERSE AND NEGLIGIBLE PHILOSOPHERS WERE ACTUALLY AS IRRELIGIOUS AS AVICENNA'S FOLLOWERS CLAIM. YOU SHOULD KNOW THOUGH THAT THE THE GREAT PHILOSOPHERS, RELIGIOUS THOUGH THEY WERE, FELL INTO ERROR ON CERTAIN CRUCIAL POINTS SO ALL THEIR WORK WAS A WASTE OF TIME.
When I perceived this vein of folly throbbing within these dimwits, I took it upon myself to write this book in refutation of the ancient philosophers, to show the incoherence of their belief and the contradiction of their word in matters relating to metaphysics; to uncover the dangers of their doctrine and its shortcomings. These shortcomings in truth which is ascertainable by reason are objects of laughter for the rational and a lesson for the intelligent -I mean the kinds of diverse beliefs and opinions the philosophical unbelievers particularly hold that set them aside from the populace and the common run of men. I will do this, relating at the same time the Greek philosophical doctrine as it actually is, so as to make it clear to those who embrace unbelief through imitation of Avicenna that all significant thinkers, past and present, agree in believing in God and the last day; that their differences reduce to matters of detail extraneous to those two pivotal points (the prophets, supported by miracles, have been sent to be sure that those of us who do not study metaphysics know the truth about these points); that no one has denied these two beliefs other than a remnant of perverse minds who hold lopsided opinions, who are neither noticed or taken into account in the deliberations of the speculative thinkers like Aristotle. Among philosophers unbelievers are counted only among the company of evil devils and in the throng of the dim-witted and inexperienced. I will do this so that whoever believes that adorning oneself with imitated unbelief shows good judgment and will impress everyone with one’s quick wit and intelligence would desist from his extravagance, as he learns the truth - that Aristotle and Plato, those prominent and leading philosophers he emulates are innocent of the imputation that they deny the religious laws; that on the contrary they believe in God and His messengers, but that they have fallen into confusion in certain details beyond these principles, erring in this, straying from the correct path, and leading others astray. We will reveal the kinds of imaginings and vanities in which they have been deceived, showing all this to be unproductive extravagance. God, may He be exalted, is the patron of success in the endeavor to show what we intend to verify.
LET ME START BY EXPLAINING HOW I INTEND TO PROCEED - WHAT I WILL DO AND WHAT I WILL NOT DO AND WHY.
Let us now begin the book with introductions that express the pattern of discourse followed therein.
I AM NOT GOING TO DISCUSS THE LONG AND SAD TALE OF EVERY GREEK PHILOSOPHER'S DIFFERENCES WITH EVERY OTHER GREEK PHILOSOPHER BUT I WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE CONTRADICTIONS IN THE GREATEST OF THEM, ARISTOTLE.
First Introduction
Let it be known that to plunge into narrating the differences among the philosophers would involve too long a tale. For their floundering about is lengthy, their disputes many, their views spread far apart, their ways divergent and convergent. Let us then restrict ourselves to showing the contradictions in the views of their leader, who is the philosopher par excellence and “the first teacher.” For he has, as they claim, organized and refined their sciences, removed the redundant in their views and selected what is closest to the principles of their capricious beliefs -I mean, Aristotle. He has answered all his predecessors, even his teacher, known among them as “the divine Plato,” apologizing for disagreeing with his teacher by saying: “Plato is a friend and truth is a friend, but truth is a truer friend.” (to be continued)
These days it can be hard to keep a balance and keep the truth when thinking about Islam. All kinds of Islamic governments are basing their foreign policy on the ignorant premise that "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is a guide to Israeli thinking. The Protocols are well-known to be a nineteenth century Russian forgery aimed at inciting anti-semiticism. You wonder what to say to anyone who hasn't bothered to verify the major document behind their foreign policy. Then you see the continual fauxtography frauds exposed in the Lebanon war. It's evident that this has been going on all along. The amount of falsehood is sickening and the ignorance, hatred, cruelty, and indifference to truth that fosters it all is a portrait of a sick society.
DESTROYING PALESTINE TO SAVE IT
Then you listen to the Iranian who wants to get his finger on the trigger of a nuclear weapon SO THAT HE CAN PULL THE TRIGGER. I mean - anything that hit Israel would blow radioactive dust all over the east end of the Mediterranean, Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and part of Syria - right away. Look at a map sometime - Israel is tiny. It's like they say - Israel is tiny - and surrounded by large states with large populations. In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, where does the Iranian think the radioactive dust will mainly go? And what does he mean by saying he'll get Palestine for the Palestinians by sprinkling the area - and very likely them - with radioactive dust? And then ...the wind blows west, he wrecks the Mediterranean, the wind blows east and back the stuff comes on Iraq passing over and poisoning the Al-Aqsa mosque on the way. The wind - another Zionist plot. Or what if the bomb misses Haifa or Tel Aviv and detonates in the Mediterranean - won't this cause a tsunami-like wave that will drown low-lying Egypt and wreck the Mediterranean? Libya, Tunisia, Morocco - will they be grateful for that?
AL-GHAZLI - VOICE OF ANOTHER AND BETTER ISLAM
Anyhow, as a Christian, I want to keep a place in my heart for Islamic believers despite the current prominence of a band of hate-filled, ignorant liars. They aren't the only people in Islam and this isn't the only time Islam has been on the world stage. So I turned to other years and other teachers in Islam and I found the great Al-Ghazli, author of The Incoherence of the Philosophers. I liked him a lot and I thought I'd post his work in sections with a few comments from time to time. He really shows that the present band of ignorant liars are a decadent form of Islam. What's probably the most surprising part so far is reading his discussions of the "outside" of the universe and what came "before" time. His views and those of Avicenna are those advanced as new by Einstein and others.
Then, too, though he lived in the eleventh century, Al-Ghazli was sure that that the earth went round the sun and that eclipses were caused by the lineup of the sun and moon.
He distinguished the problems important to religion from all other philosophical problems, saying that a teacher in Islam should only be concerned with the problems relevant to religion.
BANNED IN TURKEY
It's strange that his name and his work should be associated with the movement in Islam which put an end to free inquiry but this is the historical fact. As a result his work was banned in Turkey by Kemal Ataturk as part of Ataturk's modernizing program. It's still banned there. Maybe I haven't gotten to the bad parts yet. But I think Al-Ghazli was probably misused by a lot of people who never bothered to read him - the type we have with us today who love reading the Protocols and bathing in hatred.
AL-GHAZLI AND THE PROBLEM OF PHILOSOPHICAL DOUBT
Al-Ghazli lived in the twelfth century. The philosopher we call Avicenna was roiling the waters in the Islamic world. Those who followed him were losing their faith in Islam. "Their doubt is the outcome of their being deceived by embellished imaginings akin to the glitter of the mirage" says Al-Ghazli. He wanted to return men to an understanding of that God who one day would reward his faithful with a Paradise "from whose heights the greatest ascents of the understanding stand low and from whose distant stretches the utmost reaches of the arrows of the imagination waste away", with a bliss which '"neither eye has seen nor ear, heard, nor has occurred to the heart of men,”'. He wanted to return men to the true teaching of Muhammad and his companions "pure keys of guidance and lanterns in the dark." We don't have to agree with him to see he was a man to respect.
THE PLAN OF ACTION
I'll give an overview of the sections and then precede each section with a few bolded sentences explaining what I think Al-Ghazli is saying. Let me make it clear too that I have taken out all the parentheses which the translators used when they added phrases to make it clear to what or whom Al-Ghazli was referring. And I have sometimes added in "Avicenna", "Avicenna's followers", "the Greek Philosophers" and other similar expressions where Al-Ghazli is translated as saying "they", "their", "these" and other pronouns. In English it's easier to understand Al-Ghazli if his frequent references to the other side of the dispute are made concrete.
TODAY'S SECTIONS
Al-Ghazli begins with a prayer for enlightenment. "We ask God ... to make us among those who saw the truth as truth, preferring to pursue and follow its paths, and who saw false as false, choosing to avoid and shun it." Then he explains the problem as he saw it. The philosophers were attracting people away from Islam. Yet it could be shown that it was not the great Greek philosophers but their interpreters (Avicenna) who were irreligious. Furthermore, the followers of Avicenna who accuse believers of being mere "imitators" were themselves merely "imitating" Avicenna. To prove this Al-Ghazli intends to show that Avicenna is involved in logical contradictions which his followers ignore because they are not thinking philosophically as they claim but following or "imitating" like the believers. There is this difference between them and the believers however - they are imitating error.
ASKING GOD'S BLESSING ON THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH
In The Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
We ask God in His majesty that transcends all bounds and His munificence that goes beyond all ends to shed upon us the light of His guidance and to snatch away from us the darkness of waywardness and error; to make us among those who saw the truth as truth, preferring to pursue and follow its paths, and who saw false as false, choosing to avoid and shun it; to bring us to the felicity He promised His prophets and saints; to make us attain that rapture and gladness, favored bliss and joy (once we depart from this abode of delusion) from whose heights the greatest ascents of the understanding stand low and from whose distant stretches the utmost reaches of the arrows of the imagination waste away; to grant us, after arriving at the bliss of paradise and emerging from the terror of the judgment day, that which "neither eye has seen nor ear, heard, nor has occurred to the heart of men,” and that He may bestow His prayers and His assured peace upon the prophet, the chosen, Muhammad, the best of men, and upon his virtuous family and his companions pure keys of guidance and lanterns in the dark.
THERE IS A PROBLEM OF UNBELIEF AMONG SOME OF THE ISLAMIC INTELLIGENTSIA
I have seen it: there are those who, believing themselves better than their companions and peers by virtue of a superior quick wit and intelligence, have rejected the Islamic duties regarding acts of worship, disdained religious rites pertaining to the offices of prayer and the avoidance of prohibited things, and belittled the devotions and ordinances prescribed by the divine Law, not halting in the face of its prohibitions and restrictions. On the contrary, they have entirely cast off the reins of religion through various other beliefs, following therein a troop “who [leave and shun] God’s way, intending to make it crooked, who are indeed disbelievers in the hereafter” [Qur’an 11:19].
THE JEWS AND THE CHRISTIANS IMITATE. THE INTELLIGENTSIA IMITATE. THE JEWS AND CHRISTIANS IMITATE THEIR FOREFATHERS; THE ISLAMIC DOUBTERS IMITATE THE PHILOSOPHERS IN SPECULATING AND EVEN MERELY IMAGINING ABOUT HOW THINGS ARE.
There is no basis for the Islamic doubters unbelief other than traditional, conventional imitation just exactly like the imitation of Jews and Christians. In the case of Jews and Christians their upbringing and that of their offspring has followed a course other than the religion of Islam, their fathers and forefathers having followed these religions without thought. This group of philosophical doubters imitates what they know of speculative investigation, which is unbelief. The unbelief is the consequence of their stumbling over the tails of sophistical doubts in their investigation of beliefs and opinions, doubts that divert from the direction of truth. Their doubt is also the outcome of their being deceived by embellished imaginings akin to the glitter of the mirage, This has happened to groups of speculative thinkers, followers of heretical innovation and whim.
THE GREEK PHILOSOPHERS HAVE A GREAT NAME AND THE LEADERS IN UNBELIEF (AVICENNA) EXAGERRATE THESE PHILOSOPHERS' INTELLIGENCE AND LEARNING, ADDING THAT THESE MIGHTY MINDS REJECTED REVEALED RELIGION AND ITS TEACHING AS MAN-MADE LAWS AND TRICKS.
The source of their unbelief is their hearing high-sounding names such as “Socrates,” “Hippocrates,” “Plato,” “Aristotle,” and their like, and the exaggeration and misguidedness of certain of the followers of these philosophers in describing their minds, the excellence of their principles, the exactitude of their geometrical, logical, natural, and metaphysical sciences, and in describing the philosophers as being alone -by reason of excessive intelligence and acumen- capable of extracting these hidden things; the source of philiosophical unbelief is also hearing what [Avicenna and his followers have to say about Aristotle, Plato and Socrates which is] that the certainty of their intellect and the abundance of their merit runs along with denial of revealed laws and religious confessions and rejection of the details of religious and sectarian teaching, the greatest philosophers believing these laws and teachings to be man-made laws and embellished tricks.
WHEN SOME OF THE ISLAMIC INTELLIGENTSIA HEARD AVICENNA'S ATTACK ON RELIGION THIS AGREED WITH SOMETHING IN THEMSELVES. THEY PUT ON AND WORE PHILOSOPHICAL UNBELIEF LIKE THE LATEST FASHION IN THE MOST EXPENSIVE CLOTHES. THEY FEEL PHILOSOPHICAL UNBELIEF IS A VIRTUE WHICH EXALTS THEM ABOVE THE COMMON MASS OF BELIEVERS WHO THEY SEE AS MERE IMITATORS OF THE RELIGION OF THEIR FATHERS. IN FACT AVICENNA'S FOLLOWERS ARE IMITATING ALSO AND WHAT THEY ARE IMITATING IS ERROR.
When this struck the hearing of some of the Islamic intelligentsia, that which was reported by Avicenna of the Greek philosophers’ unbelief finding agreement with their nature, they adorned themselves with the embracing of unbelief, siding with the throng of the virtuous who are Avicenna's followers, as they claim, affiliating with them, exalting themselves above aiding the masses and the commonality, and disdaining to be content with the religious beliefs of their forebears. They have done this, thinking that the show of cleverness in abandoning the imitation of what is true by embarking on the imitation of the false is a beauteous thing, being unaware that moving from the one to the other is folly and confusedness.
IMBECILES ARE SMARTER THAN AVICENNA'S FOLLOWERS BECAUSE IMBECILES DO NOT HASTILY EMBRACE ERROR WITH PRIDE AND WITHOUT VERIFICATION
What rank in God’s world is there that is lower than the rank of one who adorns himself with the abandonment of the truth that is traditionally believed by the hasty embracing of the false as true, accepting it without reliable report and verification? The imbeciles among the masses stand detached from the infamy of this abyss; for there is no craving in their nature to become clever by emulating those who follow the ways of error. Imbecility is thus nearer salvation than acumen severed from religious belief; blindness closer to wholeness than crosseyed sight.
WHEN I SAW WHAT WAS HAPPENING I DECIDED TO WRITE THIS BOOK WITH TWO POINTS IN MIND. I WANTED TO SHOW THAT THE GREATEST OF PHILOSOPHERS DISAGREE AMONG THEMSELVES AND WITHIN THEMSELVES ON METAPHYSICAL ISSUES TO THE POINT OF INCOHERENCE BUT THAT THEY AGREE THAT THERE IS A GOD AND A JUDGEMENT DAY. ONLY A FEW PERVERSE AND NEGLIGIBLE PHILOSOPHERS WERE ACTUALLY AS IRRELIGIOUS AS AVICENNA'S FOLLOWERS CLAIM. YOU SHOULD KNOW THOUGH THAT THE THE GREAT PHILOSOPHERS, RELIGIOUS THOUGH THEY WERE, FELL INTO ERROR ON CERTAIN CRUCIAL POINTS SO ALL THEIR WORK WAS A WASTE OF TIME.
When I perceived this vein of folly throbbing within these dimwits, I took it upon myself to write this book in refutation of the ancient philosophers, to show the incoherence of their belief and the contradiction of their word in matters relating to metaphysics; to uncover the dangers of their doctrine and its shortcomings. These shortcomings in truth which is ascertainable by reason are objects of laughter for the rational and a lesson for the intelligent -I mean the kinds of diverse beliefs and opinions the philosophical unbelievers particularly hold that set them aside from the populace and the common run of men. I will do this, relating at the same time the Greek philosophical doctrine as it actually is, so as to make it clear to those who embrace unbelief through imitation of Avicenna that all significant thinkers, past and present, agree in believing in God and the last day; that their differences reduce to matters of detail extraneous to those two pivotal points (the prophets, supported by miracles, have been sent to be sure that those of us who do not study metaphysics know the truth about these points); that no one has denied these two beliefs other than a remnant of perverse minds who hold lopsided opinions, who are neither noticed or taken into account in the deliberations of the speculative thinkers like Aristotle. Among philosophers unbelievers are counted only among the company of evil devils and in the throng of the dim-witted and inexperienced. I will do this so that whoever believes that adorning oneself with imitated unbelief shows good judgment and will impress everyone with one’s quick wit and intelligence would desist from his extravagance, as he learns the truth - that Aristotle and Plato, those prominent and leading philosophers he emulates are innocent of the imputation that they deny the religious laws; that on the contrary they believe in God and His messengers, but that they have fallen into confusion in certain details beyond these principles, erring in this, straying from the correct path, and leading others astray. We will reveal the kinds of imaginings and vanities in which they have been deceived, showing all this to be unproductive extravagance. God, may He be exalted, is the patron of success in the endeavor to show what we intend to verify.
LET ME START BY EXPLAINING HOW I INTEND TO PROCEED - WHAT I WILL DO AND WHAT I WILL NOT DO AND WHY.
Let us now begin the book with introductions that express the pattern of discourse followed therein.
I AM NOT GOING TO DISCUSS THE LONG AND SAD TALE OF EVERY GREEK PHILOSOPHER'S DIFFERENCES WITH EVERY OTHER GREEK PHILOSOPHER BUT I WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE CONTRADICTIONS IN THE GREATEST OF THEM, ARISTOTLE.
First Introduction
Let it be known that to plunge into narrating the differences among the philosophers would involve too long a tale. For their floundering about is lengthy, their disputes many, their views spread far apart, their ways divergent and convergent. Let us then restrict ourselves to showing the contradictions in the views of their leader, who is the philosopher par excellence and “the first teacher.” For he has, as they claim, organized and refined their sciences, removed the redundant in their views and selected what is closest to the principles of their capricious beliefs -I mean, Aristotle. He has answered all his predecessors, even his teacher, known among them as “the divine Plato,” apologizing for disagreeing with his teacher by saying: “Plato is a friend and truth is a friend, but truth is a truer friend.” (to be continued)
posted by wildswan at 9/02/2006 12:40:00 PM
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