comparing the cosmology of avicenna and ghazali.
here is a breakdown of what ghazali believed:
everything works according to
cause and effect
predetermined by god
things are either (khayr)
good and appropriate
(advantageous and beneficial)
or they are (sharr)
evil (harmful and detrimental)
a person will be predisposed towards one
or the other based on conditions of upbringing
that are beyond control.
unaware that what the person thinks is a choice,
is actually an entire series of events
determined in a person by necessity (qadr)
we have a
god given (aql) mind and sensation
will believe something to be advantageous as opposed to harmful
which forces to operate -
(iradah) voluntary motivation
predetermined by god
which forces to operate-
(qudrah) power of action
predetermined by god
which leads to
motion
predetermined by god
that the person chooses simply means
that he is the locus of a volition
that comes to be in him by
(jabran) force of necessity
once the mind has judged
that the action is altogether good and appropriate.
even that judgement comes to be
by force of necessity.
it is god working through intermediaries:
supplying the obedient with
causes of their obedience
so that willy nilly they obey.
and the disobedient with
the motivations for disobedience
so that willy nilly they disobey
for whenever god creates distraction and desire
and the power to fullfill the desire
the act takes place through it
by determined necessity.
ghazali was critical of avicenna
for leaving god out of the equation.
Avicenna believed:
"all volitions come to be after not having been.
accordingly, they have causes which converge
and necessitate them.
a volition does not exist
because of a prior volition;
otherwise there would be
an infinate regression.
nor does it exist by nature;
otherwise the volition would be inevitable
as long as the nature exists.
Rather,
volitions occur because of
the occurance of causes,
which are things that
causally necessitate them.
Motivations are traceable
to earthly and celestial beings
and these necessarily cause
the occurance of a particular volition."
cause and effect.
in matrix reloaded....
Morpheus: You know why we are here.
Merovingian: Hmph... I am a trafficker of information, I know everything I can. The question is, do you know why you are here?
Morpheus: We are looking for the Keymaker.
Merovingian: Oh yes, it is true. The Keymaker, of course. But this is not a reason, this is not a `why.' The Keymaker himself, his very nature, is means, it is not an end, and so, to look for him is to be looking for a means to do... what?
Neo: You know the answer to that question.
Merovingian: But do you? You think you do but you do not. You are here because you were sent here, you were told to come here and you obeyed. [Laughs] It is, of course, the way of all things. You see, there is only one constant, one universal, it is the only real truth: causality. Action. Reaction. Cause and effect.
Morpheus: Everything begins with choice.
Merovingian: No. Wrong. Choice is an illusion, created between those with power, and those without. Look there, at that woman. My God, just look at her. Affecting everyone around her, so obvious, so bourgeois, so boring. But wait... Watch - you see, I have sent her dessert, a very special dessert. I wrote it myself. It starts so simply, each line of the program creating a new effect, just like poetry. First, a rush... heat... her heart flutters. You can see it, Neo, yes? She does not understand why - is it the wine? No. What is it then, what is the reason? And soon it does not matter, soon the why and the reason are gone, and all that matters is the feeling itself. This is the nature of the universe. We struggle against it, we fight to deny it, but it is of course pretense, it is a lie. Beneath our poised appearance, the truth is we are completely out of control. Causality. There is no escape from it, we are forever slaves to it. Our only hope, our only peace is to understand it, to understand the `why.' `Why' is what separates us from them, you from me. `Why' is the only real social power, without it you are powerless. And this is how you come to me, without `why,' without power. Another link in the chain. But fear not, since I have seen how good you are at following orders, I will tell you what to do next. Run back, and give the fortune teller this message: Her time is almost up. Now I have some real business to do, I will say adieu and goodbye.
Neo: This isn't over.
