Profile

Kübra Bahçi studied Islamic Theology and Philosophy at the University of Münster and graduated in 2015. She then completed a Master’s degree at Istanbul Medeniyet University, which she completed in 2018 with a thesis on “Discussions on the Eternity and Origin of the World in Post-Classical Islamic Philosophy: God as a Freely Choosing Agent or as a Necessarily Emanating Cause – Rāzī, Āmidī, Ṭūsī”. She completed her doctorate at the same university in 2025 with a dissertation on “The Concept of ‘Possibility’ (imkān) in the Philosophy of Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī: The Influence of his Philosophical Theology on Modal Metaphysics and Natural Philosophy.” Her research visits included the University of Edinburgh, where she conducted research as a postgraduate visitor under the supervision of Dr. Fedor Benevich. During her doctoral studies, she was involved in two research projects: From 2020 to 2023, she worked on occult or supernatural phenomena in Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s natural philosophy. From 2023 to 2025, she was a research assistant in the research project “The sources of Islamic thought in the 12th century with regard to figures, works, and theories: The Example of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī.” Her research focuses on classical and post-classical Islamic philosophy and philosophical theology (kalām).

Research Interests

• The reception of the lesser-known writings of Avicenna (ar. Ibn Sīnā, d. 428/1037), especially the collection al-Mubāḥaṯāt, in post-classical Islamic philosophy.
• The importance and impact of Avicenna in post-classical Islamic philosophy and philosophical theology, especially in thinkers such as Abū l-Barakāt al-Baġdādī, Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī and Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī.
• Post-Avicennian Ašʿarite metaphysics and natural philosophy.
• Current research topics at the interface of classical philosophical theology (kalām) and analytical philosophy of religion.

Current Research Projects and Activities

• Research associate in the project: “Avicenna Live: The Immediate Context of Avicenna’s Intellectual Formation” (ERC Starting Grant 2023)
• Co-editor of the journal Nazariyat: Journal for the History of Islamic Philosophy and Sciences.

Publications

Articles (Peer-reviewed)

• “Clarification of Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī’s Position: Can a Freely Choosing Agent Cause an Eternal Object?,“ in: Kader 22/2 (2019), S. 293–311. https://doi.org/10.18317/kaderdergi.1544490 (in Turkish).
• “Discussion of Frank Griffel: Versuch eine Religion zu verstehen,” in: RTEU Faculty of Theology Journal (2019), S. 577–581. https://doi.org/10.32950/rteuifd.638661 (in Turkish).
• “Encapsulating Potentiality from Prime Matter: The Transformation of Prime Matter in Post-Avicennian Philosophy,” planned for: Special Issue: Bridges between Parallel Paths: Arabic-Islamic and Latin Christian Medieval Philosophies, edited by Zita Toth and Fedor Benevich, British Journal for the History of Philosophy (in English).

Book Chapters

• “Physics and Natural Sciences in Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī,” in: Interpreting Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, edited by Peter Adamson and Damian Janos. Cambridge University Press. (with Andreas Lammer) (forthcoming)
• “Max Hortens’ Holistic Understanding of Islamic Philosophy,” in: Islamic Studies in Western Literature, edited by Necmettin Salih et al. Ketebe 2025. (in Turkish) (forthcoming)
• “The Supernatural Experience: On the Epistemic Value of Empirical Knowledge of Supernatural Phenomena in Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī,” in: Supernatural Phenomena in Islamic Thought, edited by Eşref Altaş (Ketebe, 2026) in Turkish). (forthcoming)
• “Bridging Rāzian Contingency Argument and Contemporary Nomological Arguments: Towards a Cumulative Contingency-Based Nomological Argument.” (with Ibrahim Bahçi) (under review)

Conference Papers and Presentations

• “On the Potentiality of Prime Matter,” King’s College London. Conference: Bridges between Parallel Paths: Arabic-Islamic and Latin Christian Medieval Philosophies. (2025)
• “Occasionalism and Freeing Science from Metaphysics,” Ibn Haldun University. Conference: Abrahamic Reflections on Philosophy, Science and Religion. (2025)
• “Bridging Rāzian Contingency Argument and Contemporary Nomological Arguments: Towards a Cumulative Contingency-Based Nomological Argument,” Cambridge Muslim College. Conference: Proofs for God’s Existence in Islamic Thought. (2025)
• “The Reception of Prime Matter in Post-Classical Islamic Thought,” UM6P ACPPS Research Center. Conference: Encounters of Kalām and Islamic Philosophy. (2025)
• “Reasonable Miracles: Islamic Metaphysics of Modalities and Special Divine Action,” Pontifical Angelicum University (Rome), Thomistic Institute. (2024)
• “Can God Make Everything Other Than It Is?,” Radboud University Nijmegen. Work in progress presentation. (2023)
• “Is Magnetic Gold Possible? The Lewisian Recombination Principle in the Framework of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī's Philosophical Theology,” Princeton University. Conference: Early Career Workshop on Islamic Thought and Anglophone Philosophy. (2023)
• “Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī's Method of Tahqīq as a Framework for Contemporary Kalām,” Harvard University. Conference: Islamic Philosophy Conference. (2023)
• “Conditional Occasionalism: Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s Philosophy of Nature,” Cambridge Muslim College. Conference: Intersecting Philosophy of Science with Islamic Thought. (2022)
• “Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s Philosophy of Nature in the Framework of Ashʿaritic Metaphysics,” University of Münster, Research Seminar. (2022)