Religious and Philosophical Views of ʼAbū al-Ḥasan al-Ṣūrī III. Natural Philosophy

Abstract

The history of Samaritan religious and philosophical thought is a true terra incognita of modern humanities: while most of Samaritan scribes remain unpub­lished, the philosophy of their community has not yet attracted the attention of specialists. The series of articles offered to the reader is intended to fill this gap of philosophical oriental studies and shed light on the heritage of the founder of Arab-speaking Samaritan theology, ’Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ṣūrī (11th century). In his third article, the author examines al-Ṣūrī’s natural philosophy. In particu­lar, the influence of kalam physics on his concepts can be traced: like the early Mu’tazilites, ’Abū al-Ḥasan adheres to the position of strict atomism, declares the body to be the result of the convergence of four indivisible particles, and ac­cidental characteristics to be a consequence of the “incorporation” of modally formed “meanings” into bodies. Al-Ṣūrī also postulates moderate realism in his theory of knowledge, according to which the human mind “grasps” the “mea­nings” existing in objects and transcribes them using the means of created lan­guage. Al-Ṣūrī described the nature of man as the unity of spirit and the auto­nomous body, the internal acts of which are determined by the combination of a number of natural forces; the Samaritan theologian explained the action of the brain according to peripatetic anthropological teachings.