Human Psychology in the Muʿtazilite Tradition
Motives and Their Influence on Behavior in the Thought of Qāḍī
ʿAbd al-Jabbār
This study consists of an introduction and three main parts. The introduction
discusses the reasons for examining the study and provides
terminological information about the important concepts discussed
in the work, primarily the concept of motivs (dā‘ī-dawā’ī). The
first main chapter attempts to examine the intellectual and historical
background of the issue. The first part of this chapter comparatively
presents the Mu’tazilite interest in human from the perspective of
the history of Kalām (Islamic theology), and then draws attention to
the concepts of freedom and responsibility within this context. The
final part of this s ub-chapter presents the definitions of human in
the Mu’tazilite school, thus focusing on their view of human within
the context of the soul-body relationship. The second part of the
first c hapter i nvestigates the c oncept of m otivs i n t he Kalām and
philosophical traditions before Qādī, thus attempting to identify
the scientific foundation inherited by the author. The second main
chapter of the book deals with the subject of human actions in Qādī
Abd al-Jabbār’s work. Here, the thinker’s classifications o f actions
and his perspective on the concepts of life, knowledge, power, and
will, which he attributes an active role in the formation of behavior,
are examined to shed light on the following section. The final
and main section of the study focuses on the motives that Qâdī Abd
al-Jabbār gives significant importance to in his system of behavior
and the psychological structure of man, and their effects on action.
This main section is divided into two parts and examined under a
total of eight headings. The first part focuses on the relationship between
motives and the agent (fā‘il); the connection between these
inner forces that drive a person to action and the agent’s knowledge,
power, free choice, and needs is discussed. The second part of this
section examines the relationship between motives and behavior,
and, in separate sections, the relationship between motives and huvii
man nature (ṭabʿ), compulsory behavior (ilcāʾ), divine action, and indirect
actions (tawlīd). The study concludes with a summary of the
results and a bibliography section.
Keywords: Islamic Thought; Kalām; Mu’tazilite; Qâdī Abd al-Jabbār;
Motive (Dā’î) Theory