Abstract

ALWAHAIB, MOHAMMAD. Al-Ghazali and Descartes from doubt to certainty: a phenomenological approach. discus.filos [online]. 2017, vol.18, n.31, pp.15-40. ISSN 0124-6127.  https://doi.org/10.17151/difil.2017.18.31.2.

This paper clarifies the philosophical connection between Al-Ghazali and René Descartes, to articulate similarities and differences in their journeys from doubt to certainty. Some scholars agree that the doubt arguments used by Descartes and Al-Ghazali are similar, but identify their departures from doubt as radically different: while Descartes found his way out of doubt through the cogito or reason, Al-Ghazali ended his philosophical journey as a Sufi, overwhelmed by his religious-mystical experience. This paper proves the opposite. Under close textual scrutiny and using of basic Husserlian-phenomenological concepts, I show that Al-Ghazali’s position was misunderstood, and thus disclose his true philosophic nature.

Keywords : Al-Ghazali; René Descartes; phenomenology; Edmund Husserl; epistemology; scepticism.

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