An Example of the Relationship between Metaphysics and Logic: Genus (Jins) and Differentia (Fasl) as the Parts of Quiddity (Mahiyya) in Ibn Sina and Fakhr al-Din al-Razi's Thought

Abstract

Beyond being a tool of science, logic is also a specific discipline in Islamic studies that reflects scholars' metaphysical and ontological assumptions. One feature that best reflects the perceptions of scholars who use logic as a scientific tool is the parallelism between matter-form (madda-sura) and genus-differentia (jins-fasl). Genus-differentia are the reflections of the Avicennian matter-form theory in epistemology. In this article, I examine how Ibn Sina approached the relationship between genus-differentia and matter-form by accepting the matter-form ontology. Moreover, I analyze how Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, by applying an atomic ontology, explained genus-differentia in contrast to the matter-form theory.