Rasa'il Falsafiyya lil-Razi
- Author died
- 313 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Āfāq al-Jadīdah
Rasa'il Falsafiyya lil-Razi (Philosophical Treatises of al-Razi) is a compilation of the surviving philosophical treatises and fragments of the physician and philosopher Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (d. 313 AH / 925 CE), collected and edited by the Orientalist Paul Kraus .
Compilation and Background
The volume was edited by Kraus to recover the philosophical corpus of al-Razi, whose philosophical works had largely been lost or survived only in citations and polemical responses by later authors . It was first published in 1939 in Cairo by the Egyptian University (Faculty of Arts) in a single volume comprising 316 pages . The collection was later reprinted in Beirut by Dar al-Afaq al-Jadida .
Contents and Structure
The compiled volume comprises eleven distinct treatises, extracted chapters, and fragmentary sections reconstructed from various medieval manuscripts and citations :
- Kitab al-Tibb al-Ruhani (The Book of Spiritual Physic / Spiritual Medicine): An ethical treatise in twenty chapters designed as a counterpart to his medical work al-Mansuri, addressing the disciplining of passions and the psychological treatment of the soul .
- Kitab al-Sira al-Falsafiyya (The Book of the Philosophical Life): An autobiographical and ethical apologia in which al-Razi defends his practical engagement with society against critics who accused him of deviating from the ascetic standard of Socrates .
- Maqala fi ma ba'd al-Tabi'a (Treatise on Metaphysics) .
- Maqalat fi Amarat al-Iqbal wa-l-Dawla (Treatises on the Signs of Good Fortune and Statehood) .
- Fragments from Kitab al-Ladhdha (The Book of Pleasure) .
- Fragments from Kitab al-'Ilm al-Ilahi (The Book of Divine Science) .
- Al-Qawl fi al-Qudama' al-Khamsa (Discourse on the Five Eternal Principles): Outlining al-Razi's doctrine of the five eternal entities—the Creator, the Soul, Prime Matter (hayula), Time, and Space .
- Al-Qawl fi al-Hayula (Discourse on Prime Matter) .
- Al-Qawl fi al-Zaman wa-l-Makan (Discourse on Time and Space) .
- Al-Qawl fi al-Nafs wa-l-'Alam (Discourse on the Soul and the World) .
- Al-Munazarat bayna Abi Hatim al-Razi wa-Abi Bakr al-Razi (Debates between Abu Hatim al-Razi and Abu Bakr al-Razi): A record of the theological and philosophical debates between al-Razi and the Isma'ili missionary Abu Hatim al-Razi, extracted from the latter's A'lam al-Nubuwwa .
Themes and Scope
The texts in the collection cover ethics, metaphysics, and cosmology. In moral philosophy, al-Razi advocates rational moderation, asserting that reason must govern desires and that excessive asceticism as well as unrestrained indulgence are to be avoided . In cosmology and metaphysics, the texts document his non-Aristotelian cosmological system based on the five eternal principles and his views on matter, time, space, and the soul . The debate excerpts further preserve his controversial positions questioning the necessity of prophecy and disputing theological arguments, which drew sustained refutations from medieval scholars .
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