Critique of Criticism between Al-Ghazali and Kant: A Prelude to Establishing a New Approach

Abstract

In this article, the researcher provides a fresh perspective on the role and significance of reason in the philosophies of both Al-Ghazali and Kant. The study investigates the intellectual structures of each thinker and the framework guiding their thought systems. The researcher contends that the intellectual framework, which shaped the evolution of their ideas and framed their perspectives on the universe, humanity, reason, and religion, is fundamentally different. Al-Ghazali, where religion plays a central role in the structure of his ideas, critiqued it based on accepted truths, intuitive knowledge, sciences, and teachings of religion. In contrast, Kant, who embarked on the path of reason to justify intellectual experience religiously, (as in his criticism of the philosophers’ rational evidence in proving the existence of God, and in his revelation of the contradictions of reason when dealing with the unconditional), critiqued religion for its failure to provide sufficient foundations for reason in knowledge.