ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the theory of action that Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (1201–1274 CE) develops in response to Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s criticism of the philosophers’ position concerning the age of the universe. Rāzī’s primary complaint is that the philosophers’ position renders God little more than a natural force in the creation of the world, acting without choice. Ṭūsī’s response is interesting. First, he attempts to show that the philosophers’ and theologians’ positions are not as opposed as one might think. Second, he can make this surprising claim because he expounds an action theory in which God not only acts for a reason but also acts by choice. The study concludes by considering the importance of Ṭūsī’s position on subsequent discussions of the age of the cosmos in the eastern Islamic world.
