Ibn Taymiyya’s “Common-Sense” Philosophy

Abstract

In the contemporary philosophy of religion (PoR) in recent decades, there has been much talk of what has been coined "the epistemology of religious belief." Like many topics in PoR, Alvin Plantinga often features prominently in the discussion. Much of Plantingian thought seems to have its roots in the intuitions of the "common-sense philosophy" championed by Thomas Reid (d. 1796 CE). However, some of the ideas that come to contemporary expression in Plantingian thought can be seen as having a much longer history outside of exclusively Christian and European circles. It is the aim of this chapter, to suggest that in fact, the essence of these ideas can be found in the theological epistemology of the Damascene Islamic theologian, Taqī al-Dīn Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328 CE).In what follows, I will attempt to show the ways in which Ibn Taymiyya's fiṭ ra-based epistemology anticipates the later Reidian common-sense philosophical approach as developed by Plantinga by over 400 years. The chapter begins with an overview of the key Reidian intuitions found in