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Why Islamic ‘Traditionalists’ and ‘Rationalists’ both ought to accept Rational Objectivism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2016

ERIK BALDWIN
ERIK BALDWIN*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
*
e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Islamic ‘Traditionalists’ and ‘Rationalists’ have much in common. They agree that the Qur'an is divine revelation and acknowledge the authority of the Sunna, accept the value of logical reasoning and argumentation, recognizing the validity of basic logical principles and laws, and affirm that basic empirical and historical facts ought to be taken into consideration when interpreting the Qur'an. They disagree in that Rationalists accept but Traditionalists deny that human reason can discern objective moral truths independent of divine revelation. I present an argument for Rationalism that makes use of premises that are equally acceptable to Traditionalists and Rationalists alike.

Type
Articles
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 53 , Issue 4 , December 2017 , pp. 467 - 477
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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