Book contents
- Islam, Causality, and Freedom
- Islam, Causality, and Freedom
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Conventions
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Causality in the Early Period
- 2 Toward a Synthesis of Aristotelian and Neoplatonic Understandings of Causality
- 3 Occasionalism in the Middle Period
- 4 The First as Pure Act and Causality
- 5 Light, Existence, and Causality
- 6 The World as a Theophany and Causality
- 7 Continuities and Developments in Sufi Metaphysics
- 8 Toward an Occasionalist Philosophy of Science
- 9 Causality and Freedom in Later Islamic Philosophy
- 10 Occasionalism in the Modern Context
- 11 Islamic Theories of Causality in the Modern Context
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
11 - Islamic Theories of Causality in the Modern Context
The Religion and Science Debate
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 May 2020
- Islam, Causality, and Freedom
- Islam, Causality, and Freedom
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Conventions
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Causality in the Early Period
- 2 Toward a Synthesis of Aristotelian and Neoplatonic Understandings of Causality
- 3 Occasionalism in the Middle Period
- 4 The First as Pure Act and Causality
- 5 Light, Existence, and Causality
- 6 The World as a Theophany and Causality
- 7 Continuities and Developments in Sufi Metaphysics
- 8 Toward an Occasionalist Philosophy of Science
- 9 Causality and Freedom in Later Islamic Philosophy
- 10 Occasionalism in the Modern Context
- 11 Islamic Theories of Causality in the Modern Context
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The eleventh chapter steps back from the specifics of the discussion and investigates the strengths and weaknesses of the various proposed theories of causality in the face of certain contemporary philosophical challenges. As a case study, the chapter focuses on a central issue in contemporary discussions of religion and science: the reconciliation of religious claims about divine causation with scientific explanations that depart from the premise that the world is a causally closed system. Here the chapter first provides a brief overview of the important controversies in the discussion of religion and science that are relevant to this topic. It then explores whether the examined theories on causality are viable options for thinking about the divine causality without undermining the rigor of the scientific approach to the world.
Keywords
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- Islam, Causality, and FreedomFrom the Medieval to the Modern Era, pp. 231 - 254Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020