Knowledge First Epistemology in History: The Case of the Ashʿarī School (300 H/900 CE – 700 H/1300 CE)

• Applicant: Abdurrahman Ali Mihirig
• Subject Area: History of Philosophy ; Islamic Studies, Arabian Studies, Semitic Studies ; Theoretical Philosophy
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 558463700

This research project will investigate the theory of knowledge of the Ash’arî school of philosophy from the perspective of contemporary knowledge first epistemology. The dispute on the nature of knowledge and perception began in the city of Basra between the Ash’arî and Mu’tazilî schools. The former argued that knowledge was a basic state distinct from, and not analyzable in terms of belief, while their interlocutors believed that knowledge was a special kind of belief: namely, a true, certain belief that is justified in the right way. A similar dispute has arisen in contemporary philosophy since the publication of Gettier’s article against the received account of justified true belief. An analogous dispute arose regarding perception. In the same way that a mental state is either knowledge or some belief, they argued that in veridical cases, one either perceives that p or they are in another mental state such as imagining. The research project will produce a series of high-quality peer-reviewed articles on the analysis and definition of knowledge in the Ash’arî school; their arguments against the belief-account; their responses towards skepticism; their disjunctive analysis of perception; and their arguments against various forms of indirect theories of perception. The research will benefit from contemporary insights on these problems in order to improve our understanding of these historical debates and to fill a gap in the historiography of Arabic and Islamic philosophy. Much work on Ash’arism has been plagued by somewhat non-philosophical approaches as the school is often reduced to an anti-rationalist school of dogmatic theology. The articles produced in this project seeks to correct these mistaken views and afford these philosophers a more appropriate evaluation. Moreover, the project seeks to bridge gaps between other areas of philosophy, most obviously, contemporary analytic philosophy. First, the comparative analysis will show the value and applicability to contemporary concerns. Second, the project will also seek to apply some of these insights to contemporary disputes in philosophy. Another field is Indian philosophy. Although so far not deeply researched, evidence suggests that the classical kalam authors developed their theories in discussion with Indian and Persian philosophy. The classic work of Bimal Malital (1986) Perception will be a source and a model for this project.

• DFG Programme: WBP Fellowship
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Host: Professor Dr. Timothy Williamson