Discussion of Causality Based on the Conceptions of Nature of Ibn Rushd and al-Ghazālī

Abstract

In this short analysis, we will compare Ibn Rushd’s justification of the causality principle to the suspicions and objections of al-Ghazālī. Nevertheless, our analysis of the issue will center on al-Ghazālī’s and Ibn Rushd’s conceptions of nature. Therefore, our article aims at illuminating two points: first, there is a fundamental difference between the conceptions of nature and generation of the two philosophers; second, this structural difference constitutes the real cause of disagreement over the causality principle.