Existence and Knowledge

Existence and Knowledge

Qutb al-Din al-Razi and a Different Reading of the Flying Man Argument in the Isharat

Document Type : Research Article

Authors
Amirhossein Zadyousefi 1
Fatemeh Soltanieh 2
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Wisdom and Logic, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Graduated from the Master of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
10.22096/ek.2026.2086922.1638
Abstract
The Flying Man Argument is one of the arguments formulated by Avicenna within the context of his discussion on the soul (nafs). This argument appears eight times across his various works, with one of its key formulations located at the beginning of the third Namat of his book, Al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat. Qutb al-Din al-Razi, a prominent commentator on this work, pays particular attention to this specific version of the Flying Man argument in his Al-Muhakamat. The standard reading in both primary and secondary literature regarding the Isharat version considers the first Tanbih of the third Namat to be a complete and independent argument. However, in his commentary, Qutb al-Din al-Razi proposes a novel interpretation. According to this reading, the first chapter of the third Namat serves merely as one of the premises of a more extensive argument; together with the subsequent chapters, it forms the foundational structure of a larger logical proof. In this article, after outlining the standard reading of the Flying Man argument, we present al-Razi’s interpretation and subsequently provide an evaluation of both perspectives.
Keywords
Flying Man Argument
Avicenna
Qutb al-Din al-Razi
Soul (Nafs)
Body
Subjects
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