IBN TAYMIYYAH FROM NOMINALISM TO USAGE-BASED SEMANTICS IN THE LITERALISM OF ASMA WA SIFAT

Abstract

Analyses of Ibn Taymiyyah's epistemological and linguistic stance have frequently erred by viewing the latter as merely a nominalist. This paper shows that this apportionment is mistaken and in fact conceals the finely-tuned dynamics of his thinking. Focusing on important works such as Naqd al-Manṭiq, Dar’ Ta‘āruḍ al-‘Aql wa al-Naql and al-Radd ‘alā al-Manṭiqiyyīn, the present paper argues that Ibn Taymiyyah rejects two extremist ends of this spectrum: nominalism which maintains that meaning boils down to mere references and abstract realism which posits universals as existing entities in a distinct metaphysical realm. He certainly doesn’t side with the sentimentalists that locate meaning into some non-linguistic feeling but more so with what is called ‘conceptualist’ views, that position the meaning of something as an idea/thought and constructed through human experience, thinking etc. This paper also serves to establish that the approach of language by Ibn Taymiyyah is usage-based referential in nature. To him, meaning is not related to logical definitions created by logicians but the application of language in the lives of its speakers. Going down to the roots of meaning, it is found in accordance (ʿurf) with the context of use (siyāq) and connection with what words mean as a reality. In this way, semantics is not a field of speculative abstraction but rather an action in the making of meaning that is grounded in practical experience and use. This view brings Ibn Taymiyyah into close proximity with contemporary semantic theories that are inspired by corpus, cognition and referentialism. These discoveries complicate current perceptions of Ibn Taymiyyah's linguistic stance and provide a new perspective on how to approach his thought on theory of meaning. This article contends that his thought is not just a critique of Greek logic, but an alternative theory of the meaning—in both content and reference—of words in terms of patterns of application and empirical reference. His move from nominalism to the usage-based semantics paves the ground for innovative interchange between Islamic linguistic heritage and modern theory of language.