6 • Conclusion
Verifying the Truth on the Their Own Terms
abstract
The present debate is a product of the tension between two widely studied disciplines at early Ottoman medreses, ḥikma (post-Avicennan philosophy) and kalām (philosophical theology), which, over the course of centuries, accumulated a great number of crossovers, valences, as well as discrepancies among various schools of thought. Each scholar present in the exchange showcases their knowledge in past positions and objections by making references to various classical and post-classical authors. The texts that they refer to during the debate reveal their expertise in rational and religious sciences, especially their background in debates involving the discrepancies between falsafa/ḥikma and kalām. The current debate, in this context, addresses how prominent Ottoman scholars can respond to the antinomies of past schools and articulate their own take through referencing other contemporaries.