The muʿtazila's arguments against divine command theory

Bibliographic Data

ID20311504
AuthorsHashem Morvarid (0000-0001-8744-4621, University of Illinois Chicago, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume58
Issue3
Pages610-627
Publication date2022-09-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligious Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-4125 • E-ISSN: 1469-901X
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0034412521000172
OpenAlexW3167330798
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited28

The Muʿtazilī theologians, particularly the later Imāmī ones, developed numerous interesting arguments against divine command theory. The arguments, however, have not received the attention they deserve. Some of the arguments have been discussed in passing, and some have not been discussed at all. In this article, I aim to present and analyse the arguments. To that end, I first distinguish between different semantic, ontological, epistemological, and theological theses that were often conflated in the debate, and examine the logical relation among them. Then I go over the Muʿtazila's arguments determining, among other things, which of the theses was targeted by each argument. In presenting the arguments, I focus mainly on the late kalām period, the period falling roughly between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries of the common era, as the arguments were at their most sophisticated level by this time

Aesthetics · Argument (complex analysis) · Conflation · Epistemology · Fifteenth · Focus (optics) · Period (music) · Philosophy of religion · Physics · Relation (database) · Theology · Classics · Computer Science · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Philosophy

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