Nature of Place in the History of Islamic Philosophy

Place enjoys some specific characteristics which are accepted by all thinkers; for example, place is the receptacle of the emplaced; the emplaced occupies place; it is impossible for two emplaced things to exist at the same time in the same place; the emplaced can seek for a place or leave it through motion; place can be divided into smaller places, etc. Accordingly, the existence of place in the outside is considered to be evident, and if there are any disagreements, they pertain to the nature of place. Now, the question is which entity possesses the above-mentioned characteristics. There are certain views which are clearly inconsistent with some of these features and are, therefore, rejected; for example, the place of a thing is the same as its matter or form. Regarding this issue, Aristotle’s view is more acceptable than others and has been confirmed by Farabi and Ibn Sina. They believe that place is the internal surface of the container which is tangent with the external surface of the contained. The next view which is supported by some well-known philosophers indicates that place is the immaterial dimension. However, the idea of some mutikallimun entailing that “place is the same imagined vacuum” is rejected in the view of philosophers because it refers to vacuum. Finally, more recent philosophers interpret place as volume.