KALAM ATOMISM AND ITS CRITICISM IN ARABIC PHILOSOPHY

In this paper I examine the theories of the Mu'tazilite Abu l-Hudail al-'Allaf (d. ca. 841) and Abu Ishaq Ibrahim an-Nazzam (d. 845) with respect to the atomistic structure of reality. The former was one of the first promoters of an atomistic theory in Islamic lands, while the latter was an influent adversary of kalam atomism. I also describe the transfer of this debate into the domain of Arabic philosophy, by examining the anti-atomistic arguments of two Arabic philosophers, Abu Zakariya' Yahya ibn 'Adi (d. 974) and Abu-'Ali al-Husayn ibn-'Abdallah Ibn Sina/Avicenna (d. 1037), with a close focus on the popular argument of the sphere touching a plane. Finally, I argue that Avicenna's interpretation of said argument might have influenced the debates on the continuum in the Latin world.