THE MOVEMENT OF I’TIMĀD IN NAZZĀM’S PHILOSOPHY OF NATURE: WHATNESS OF IT AND ITS FUNCTION

YUNUS CENGİZ

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes Naẓẓām’s conception of motion and seeks to answer the question: “How does an object move from one space to another one?” In Mu’tazilite thought, the motion of the objects is explained with the concept of ‘i’timād’. The equivalent term for i’timād was generally given as the “weight of objects”. Naẓẓām, the Mu’tazilite thinker, has a different theory of i’timād. According to him, the i’timād is a movement for pushing. There are two conditions for the occurrence of i’timād (i) ‘inhisar’ (to be surrounded by the air and water) and (ii) ‘hadaf’ (the natural goal of the objects). Motion is not limited to only a change in terms of space, quality, and quantity but also motion is about categories of beings, which consist of substance.