Time, Motion, Distance, and Change in the Kalām of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī: A preliminary Survey with Special Reference to the Maṭālib al-ʿĀliyyah

Abstract

As a corollary to his argument for the atomic con- ception of the body ( jism), al-Rāzī also argues for the atomic conception of time, motion, distance and change. Aspects of his argument are presented here through a translational survey of his Maṭālib ʿĀliyah. For him, if any of the five (body, time, motion, distance, change) is atomistic in structure, then all the others will have to be conceived in atomistic terms as well.