Azar Sepahvand; MohammadHossein Irandoost; Ismail Alikhani
Abstract
Ibn Sina made extra efforts to prove divine agency, as one of the most challenging issues in theology and philosophy. In his explanation, he is, on the one hand, in conflict with the Peripatetic philosophers considering the fact that he himself is a follower of the same philosophical school and on the ...
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Ibn Sina made extra efforts to prove divine agency, as one of the most challenging issues in theology and philosophy. In his explanation, he is, on the one hand, in conflict with the Peripatetic philosophers considering the fact that he himself is a follower of the same philosophical school and on the other hand he is engaged in controversy and denial of the Shari'a law concerning this issue. He considers the issue of the world being "created or eternal", as one of the main foundations of this issue, "controversial”, implying that there are arguments for and against it. In his debate with the peripatetic philosophers, he refutes the primordiality of matter as believed by the Aristotelians and, __________________________ * Islamic Azad University Qom Branch azarsepah@gmail.com ** Islamic Azad University Qom Branch m.irandoost92@gmail.com *** Iranian Research Institute of Pholosohy smailalikhani@gmail.com Reception date: 99/7/8 Acceptance date: 99/9/11 consequently, proves the temporality of the universe. In his opposition to the theologians, he has tried to distinguish between the intrinsic occurrence of the universe and its temporal occurrence. He states that, like theologians, he believes that there is only one ancient intrinsic being, that is, God. Since eternal existents by virtue of time (different minds) are, in essence, possible beings and by necessity contingent. There should be no illusion that they are not free of an antecedent cause. To claim, like theologians, that there are eternal existents other than God is incompatible with divine unity. The present study adopted a descriptive analytical method with a focus on Ibn Sina’s original texts.
Seyed Nuredin Mahmoudi
Abstract
One of the outstanding features of transcendent wisdom is its attention to beauty in fine arts. From the ontological point of view, Mulla Sadra has looked at art and artistic aesthetics and the relationship between love and art and the abilities hidden in art and has dealt with details that are remarkable ...
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One of the outstanding features of transcendent wisdom is its attention to beauty in fine arts. From the ontological point of view, Mulla Sadra has looked at art and artistic aesthetics and the relationship between love and art and the abilities hidden in art and has dealt with details that are remarkable and contemplative in aesthetics. According to Mulla Sadra's ontological and anthropological assumptions, man has worlds and art, as a subtle human industry, grows and matures in these worlds. In this article, an attempt has been made to explain art and creation as a work of art from the perspective of Mulla Sadra. According to the results of the present study, in Sadra's wisdom, transcendent art makes a person look like a transcendent being. Mulla Sadra looks at art in a general and all-encompassing way and gives it a spiritual and sacred character. Because it connects fine arts and crafts with virtuous love and in fact gives art a valuable, spiritual and sacred place.Mulla Sadra goes a step further in his conception of art and presents his point of view in the form of a single theory which can be called "transcendent imitation"..
zahra karimi; majid ziaei
Abstract
Categories are tools of our mind through which we know the facts around us. Man puts outer objects or the concepts that govern them under one of the categories to understand them. But the extent to which the categories truly reflect all external facts and all the facts of existence is not yet clear. ...
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Categories are tools of our mind through which we know the facts around us. Man puts outer objects or the concepts that govern them under one of the categories to understand them. But the extent to which the categories truly reflect all external facts and all the facts of existence is not yet clear. From the point of view of some Islamic philosophers, it can be inferred that categories and types that are created below them play a decisive role in determining the type of creatures, that is, they are not merely tools for classifying beings in the human mind. Mulla Sadra depicts a different view of categories. He considers them to be limited to the mentally-posited quiddity. It is clear that when we consider existence to be original and not essence, all considerations and laws governing essence will also become unrealistic and subjective. In Mulla Sadra's philosophy, we do not have to conform to the categories and we are not bound to categorization. We can claim that, in Mulla Sadra's philosophy, the importance and centrality of categories in determining the type of beings is lost, and a being can change its nature from one type to another and from one category to another without the impossibility of being necessary. In this article, we will first briefly provide examples to show exceptions to the inclusion and comprehensiveness of categories from the perspective of various philosophers. Examples of facts not covered by categories and disputes over the total number of categories are cases in point. We try to illustrate the aforementioned point with examples from Mulla Sadra's works. We then examine the categories and their place in the fundamental reality of existence. It is obvious that the examination of such issues requires analysis, and inference from the opinions of philosophers. Our goal in this article is not necessarily to seek textual evidence, but to use the text to explain the underlying purpose.
maryam navvabi Ghamsari
Abstract
Divinity and Lordship are two levels of the absolute unseen worlds in existence that have a special place in ontology. The present paper reports on a comparative study of Ibn-Arabi’s and De Leon’s views on the absolute unseen worlds. The concept of the absolute unseen worlds is defined as ...
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Divinity and Lordship are two levels of the absolute unseen worlds in existence that have a special place in ontology. The present paper reports on a comparative study of Ibn-Arabi’s and De Leon’s views on the absolute unseen worlds. The concept of the absolute unseen worlds is defined as the level of divinity considering the essence and names, and the level of lordship considering the essence, both of which have no direct relationship with the real world ontologically. The results of this study are based on close reading of Ibn Arabi’s and De Leon’s works and the commentaries added to them. The study aimed to explain the causes of the absolute unseen worlds and their relationship with unity of essence and the lower worlds. Based on the ontological approach of these two thinkers, it can be inferred that divinity is the setting of essence names and lordship is the setting where acts appear, all with their specific aspects. These levels are independent by nature from creation and are the starting point for the emergence of names. As from both thinkers’ point of view divinity is not much different from essence, contradiction in their description of this level is remarkable. Despite considerable similarities between the two thinkers' approach, Ibn Arabi's epistemological approach is is different from De Leon's ontological one.
sedighe Bahrani; Mohammad Reza Asadi
Abstract
The issue of the beauty of the world and its challenge, the issue of the evil, is one of the most important philosophical and theological issues. Plotinus and Molavi, as the two distinguished world scholars, have tried to face this challenge. A lot of their suggested solutions are common: the relative ...
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The issue of the beauty of the world and its challenge, the issue of the evil, is one of the most important philosophical and theological issues. Plotinus and Molavi, as the two distinguished world scholars, have tried to face this challenge. A lot of their suggested solutions are common: the relative and necessary nature of evil, its eminence from man’s free will and his atomistic approach, and considering it as a prerequisite for soul exaltation. Some of the solutions, solely proposed by Plotinus, are philosophical in nature as is the case with considering evil non-existent and accidental. Such solutions do not seem to convince people as evil causes emotional distress for mankind. In contrast, the solutions that have a mystical aspect are convincing to a large extent. An example in case, which has been proposed by both Plotinus and Moulavi, is the consideration of evil as a prerequisite for the exaltation of the soul. This solution, which was expanded by Moulavi, is very useful and convincing. The specific versions of this solution are as follows: solving the problem of evil with the help of mutual love between man and God and the answers that come from Islamic verses and traditions, such as evil being the cause of awareness, mercy, and purification of the soul, all as signs of love. The present article with a descriptive-analytical library research method concludes that the similarities between the views expressed by Muoulavi and Plotinus can be the result of mystical intuition that is common between them as a source of their thoughts.
Habib Hatami kankabod; Ardashir monazami
Abstract
In discussing on predetermination and freewill, especially from a religious viewpoint, the following questions arise: Does Divine Foreknowledge belong generally to all things and especially to the voluntary human actions? And if Divine Foreknowledge belong to the voluntary human actions, is this compatible ...
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In discussing on predetermination and freewill, especially from a religious viewpoint, the following questions arise: Does Divine Foreknowledge belong generally to all things and especially to the voluntary human actions? And if Divine Foreknowledge belong to the voluntary human actions, is this compatible with human freewill? In the Islamic thought, two groups have dealt with the problem of “predetermination and freewill”: Âshʹârītes and Mûʹtâzîlītes. The Âshʹârītes held in determinism and “the incompatibility of Divine Foreknowledge with human freewill”, but the Mûʹtâzîlītes held in indeterminism and “the compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge with human freewill”. According to the Mûʹtâzîlītes, the distinction between a human being and the inanimate things is in free action, and if Divine Foreknowledge is a hindrance to human freewill, a human being will not be able to do his actions freely, and so, there will be no difference between a human being and the inanimate things. This paper aims at rereading the problem of “the compatibility/ incompatibility of Divine Foreknowledge with human freewill” and tries to show that which viewpoint is true viewpoint: Determinism or Indeterminism or a viewpoint between them? In trying to do so, this paper intends to answer the following questions: Does God have foreknowledge to the acts of His servants? What are the characteristics of Divine Foreknowledge? If God has foreknowledge to the acts of His servants, what is the relation of His foreknowledge with human destiny and freewill? Is His foreknowledge a hindrance to human freewill? If Divine Foreknowledge is a kind of predestination, can human beings interfere in what happens for them or they have no way but mere submission? Undoubtedly, if these questions are not answered, some religious doctrines, such as the duties of human beings before God and their moral responsibility for their actions, will lost their validity. Although many papers have been written about the problem of “predetermination and freewill”, the difference between this paper and other papers is in the way of solving the problem.In this paper, at the first stage, the meaning of Divine Foreknowledge, its characteristics and its relation with human freewill are discussed. And, at the second stage, a detailed and precise discussion has been made about the viewpoint of the School of Âhl al-Bâyt (peace be upon them), entitled “Âmrûn Bâyn al-Âmrâyn”, which is a viewpoint between Determinism and Indeterminism. According to this viewpoint, Divine Foreknowledge is compatible with human freewill and isn’t a hindrance to human freewill. This viewpoint neither negates some religious doctrines, such as a human being’s duties before God and his moral responsibility for his actions, nor limits the Divine Omnipotence in favor of human freewill.Moreover, in response to the historical problem of “predestination and freewill” in Islamic thought, this viewpoint proposes a third position between Determinism and Indeterminism, which is known as “Âmrûn Bâyn al-Âmrâyn”. This position explains the human agency by relying on human ability to do actions and the sovereignty of God’s Will. According to this position, by acquiring the power from God, a human being becomes able to do actions before doing them, and on the basis of this power, he wills and acts. At the same time, by acquiring this power from God, Divine Omnipotence isn’t limited, and nothing can happen without God’s Will, and if God’s Will doesn’t belong to do something, no one can overcome His will.
hanieh koohihajiabadi
Abstract
The problem of sense perception in Mûllā Ṣâdrā’s philosophy has been drawn in such a way that makes possible two different approaches to it: idealistic and realistic. According to the first approach, considering the superiority and priority of the mind and its concepts to the external ...
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The problem of sense perception in Mûllā Ṣâdrā’s philosophy has been drawn in such a way that makes possible two different approaches to it: idealistic and realistic. According to the first approach, considering the superiority and priority of the mind and its concepts to the external world, we can provide an idealistic interpretation of Mûllā Ṣâdrā’s epistemological system, and according to the second approach, there is a unity between man and the external world, according to which there is no preventer between man and the external world. The second approach implies avoiding from subjective idealism. But based on the first approach, the possibility of leaving the objective idealism becomes more complicated. In this paper, I have tried to explain the background of the formation of these two approaches by a descriptive-analytical method, and to analyze the different implications of both of those two approaches. For this reason, by appealing to an intra-structural solution, which is the ideality of the distinction between the world of objects and the world of the mind, I have stated the irrelevance of the challenges of objective idealism with the sense perception in Mûllā Ṣâdrā’s philosophical system.
Zeynab Barkhordari; seyyedeh mahdiheh poorsaleh amiri
Abstract
Adopting a descriptive-analytical method, the present study deals with issuing action from Ghazali’s point of view. Consistent with his different perspectives that he assumes, research in the field of Ghazalian studies enjoys coherence and has the quality of opening different windows of insight ...
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Adopting a descriptive-analytical method, the present study deals with issuing action from Ghazali’s point of view. Consistent with his different perspectives that he assumes, research in the field of Ghazalian studies enjoys coherence and has the quality of opening different windows of insight into the stages of the process of issuing action. As examples, we can refer to involuntary promise and the lack of inconsistency between Ghazali’s topics of discussion with those of the intellectual pillars of psychology. He has stablished the infrastructure of the intellectual pillars of psychology and the structure of action in his early works. He has explained the apparent conflict of his theory of inaccessibility of the essence of things and the philosophical definition of man in Ma'arej al-Quds. The current structure of man, from the deep to the surface structure, is the scientific position of choosing the end, creating enthusiasm through the sensual powers and the power of anger (willful action), or through the power of knowledge (volitional action). Willful enthusiasm belongs to the animal stage and volitional enthusiasm to the stage of man. Its surface structure consists of motor muscles. The necessitas of actualization of choosing the end and non-volitional minds in both mystical and philosophical approaches is reaching the position of dogmatism according to the rank of each human being, which explains the apparent contradiction between opinion and action. Applying will to the structure of action indicates the role of will in performing optional and obligatory actions.
behruoz muhammadimunfared
Abstract
The present article is aimed to support the instinctive nature of morality. To this end it is necessary to respond to the arguments made by the opponents. Jesse Prinz, a Professor of philosophy, has tried to deny the innateness of moral norms with the help of some arguments. Understanding Prinz's approach ...
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The present article is aimed to support the instinctive nature of morality. To this end it is necessary to respond to the arguments made by the opponents. Jesse Prinz, a Professor of philosophy, has tried to deny the innateness of moral norms with the help of some arguments. Understanding Prinz's approach is based on an awareness of the way he looks at the truth and nature of the moral norms and their origins. He believes that the psychological phenotype of P is innate when it is achieved by P-specific psychological mechanisms. He also considers moral norms to be influenced by emotions. The present study seeks to defend the innate nature of morality by responding to Prinz’s arguments through a brief explanation of his view on the true nature and the origin of moral norms and the denial of the instinctiveness of such norms and levelling some __________________________ * University of Tehran muhammadimunfared@ut.ac.ir Reception date: 99/2/9 Acceptance date: 99/10/2 criticisms against them. The critique draws on Susan Dwyer and Chandra Srippada views on this issue. The conclusion is that the innate nature of most moral norms is more defendable, although some moral norms are not innate.
taher karimzadeh; ebrahim noei; Abbas Mirzaie
Abstract
The doctrine of Badā’, as a specific attribute of Shiite beliefs, has constantly been the subject of derision and criticism by Shia opponents. They have accused the Shiites of attributing ignorance and remorse to God and, for that reason, have taunted them as such. In response, Shiite scholars ...
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The doctrine of Badā’, as a specific attribute of Shiite beliefs, has constantly been the subject of derision and criticism by Shia opponents. They have accused the Shiites of attributing ignorance and remorse to God and, for that reason, have taunted them as such. In response, Shiite scholars have always defended the doctrine of Badā’ and tried, based on their own thought systems, to clarify the true nature of Badā’ and to provide an accurate account of its relationship with the divine attributes. Ayatollah Seyyed Muhammad Kazem Assar is among the recent great figures who have dealt with the doctrine of Badā’ in detail. He has developed an independent treatise on this subject with a philosophical-mystical approach. Ayatollah Assar’s initiatives in explaining the truth of Badā’, especially his mystical view of it, are unique. Using Sadra’s philosophical and mystical principles, he has managed to provide a novel and new explanation of the truth of Badā’, its relationship with the knowledge and will of God and divine destiny, and the way it is expounded through the knowledge and narratives of the Ma’suumin (P.B.U.T.). Adopting his viewpoint, the present paper is an attempt to explain the truth of Badā’ and to analyze its relationship with Knowledge, will and divine destiny, and the knowledge and infallibility of the Ma’suumin (P.B.U.T.).
mohammad torkamani
Abstract
God's relationship with man (and its requirements) has always been a controversial topic among theologians. One of the most important themes of this topic is "God’s mutability”. Pinnock (one of the founders of open theism) believes that since -according to the Bible - God has always been ...
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God's relationship with man (and its requirements) has always been a controversial topic among theologians. One of the most important themes of this topic is "God’s mutability”. Pinnock (one of the founders of open theism) believes that since -according to the Bible - God has always been in contact with the world, and the planning of the changing world logically requires a manager who can have appropriate plans under changing conditions, God must necessarily be mutable. This issue is explained in a different way in Imamieh theology. From the point of view of Imamieh theologians, although God is in contact with the creatures every moment and oversees the planning of the changing world, this does not necessarily lead to His mutability. In fact, God, in spite of being immutable, under some circumstances, may give some things precedence over others. However, these new appearances does not reflect God's essence, but His actions showing the external realization of things. The present paper is an effort to evaluate the foundations of Pinnock's views on God's mutability based on Imamieh theology adopting a descriptive-analytical method.
Zahra Hosseini; Fateme Sahraei
Volume 22, Issue 4 , April 2023, , Pages 47-70
Abstract
Adopting a rigid perspective toward post Cartesian modernity, traditionalists have referred to a type of knowledge which has a supernatural quality and is related to degrees of existence. Rejecting the efficacy of experience and argument which are considered pivotal to post-renaissance epistemology, ...
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Adopting a rigid perspective toward post Cartesian modernity, traditionalists have referred to a type of knowledge which has a supernatural quality and is related to degrees of existence. Rejecting the efficacy of experience and argument which are considered pivotal to post-renaissance epistemology, they assume that intuitive knowledge is the main source of intellect and getting access to truth. Intuitionism in traditionalism moves beyond methodology. It seems that we are facing a sort of paradigm shift which tries to change the established assumptions. The present article deals with the issue of whether the sacred knowledge could basically be called knowledge or not. To answer this question, we examine the two necessary elements of knowledge, truth and justification. Theconclusion is that most of traditionalists’ claims are irrational and have no justification. The realization of this knowledge in the contemporary modern world appears unrealistic.
masood hajirabi
Abstract
The present article examines the theory of transversal interpretation of the theological verses of the Qur'an (verses referring to the names and attributes of God) in the school of Ibn Arabi. The issue of transversal interpretation is one of the important issues of the school of Ibn Arabi. It affects ...
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The present article examines the theory of transversal interpretation of the theological verses of the Qur'an (verses referring to the names and attributes of God) in the school of Ibn Arabi. The issue of transversal interpretation is one of the important issues of the school of Ibn Arabi. It affects the interpretation of the theological verses of the holy Qur'an. Interpretation is possible in two different ways: longitudinal and transversal. In this context, interpretation means moving above the surface level of the theological verses to their inner level to get access to their longitudinal meaning. In longitudinal interpretation, the interpreter tries to derive a long chain of compatible meanings from the essence of the verses without making any modifications in the form of the theological verses. In transversal interpretation, unlike longitudinal interpretation, the meanings are arranged horizontally with no semantic unity. In this type of interpretation, the mystic tries to consider the theological verses in a broader context compared with longitudinal interpretation with the aim of extending the word of God in the realm of transverse meanings as well. One of the most important results of this research is the introduction of the foundations of transversal interpretation of the Qur'an, the need to observe or not to observe the unity of meaning in the Qur'an, a multi-dimensional view of the Qur'an, and the diversity of interpretation in this school. The method adopted in this article is an analytical one.
Mohammad Hossein Ansari Cheshmaeh; Rahim Dehghan; Ebrahim Nouee
Abstract
In the field of ethics, the theories of natural law and the inherent good and evil are sometimes considered the same. The reason is that the theory of natural law has not been clearly defined and no attempt has been made to identify he differences between the two theories. According to the findings of ...
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In the field of ethics, the theories of natural law and the inherent good and evil are sometimes considered the same. The reason is that the theory of natural law has not been clearly defined and no attempt has been made to identify he differences between the two theories. According to the findings of the present study, there are six key differences between the two: (1) In the theory of natural law, contrary to the theory of intrinsic good and evil, recognition of values is a kind of reminder; (2) in the theory of natural law, ethics is based on human capacity, intrinsic needs and orientations; (3) In the theory of natural law, the origin of the propositions of practical reason goes back to fundamental goodness which is rooted in the natural needs and desires; (4) These two theories are formulated in two completely different intellectual traditions, one in the Aristotelian ethics and the other in the Islamic ideological theology; (5) The theory of natural law has more successful applications; (6) The interpretation of the theory of natural law is different from that of the theory of intrinsic good and evil. Relying on intrinsic goodness, the theory of intrinsic good and evil, seeks moral truths among facts outside human existence, such as the essence of action based on rational arguments, while the theory of natural law lays the foundation of moral laws in natural capacities of human existence. Adopting an analytical-descriptive method, the present paper tries to explain the differences between these two theories.
Maryam Samadieh; Fatemeh F azelzadeh
Abstract
According to Mûllā Ṣâdrā, a human being is a creature who is educable during his life. By “Education” Mûllā Ṣâdrā means to purify human soul from the vices and to prepare it for receiving the manifestation of the Divinity. Relying on his philosophical foundations, ...
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According to Mûllā Ṣâdrā, a human being is a creature who is educable during his life. By “Education” Mûllā Ṣâdrā means to purify human soul from the vices and to prepare it for receiving the manifestation of the Divinity. Relying on his philosophical foundations, Mûllā Ṣâdrā argues that the soul is corporeal in its coming-into-being and spiritual in its survival. He believes that the soul comes into being with the coming-into-being of the body and thus begins its perfecting motion from the lowest degree in order to achieve its actuality, immateriality and the highest degree of perfection. This paper tries to discuss descriptively and analytically on educating the human soul from Mûllā Ṣâdrā’s view and its relation with his understanding of the Existential Dependence on and the Essential Need to God. The Essential Need to God refers to the existential dependence of an effect on a cause and the essential dependence of a Contingent being to the Necessary Being. Among the things which can influence on educating the human soul and on a human being’s understanding of his existential dependence on God, one can refer to a perfect self - knowledge and its role in educating the soul, his understanding of his existentiating cause, and its influence on educating the soul. Of course, it should be noted that there are numerous papers about Mûllā Ṣâdrā’s view of education, but what distinguishes this paper from other papers is the role of the Essential Need to God in educating the soul, which has not been discussed in none of the other papers.1.The perfect self-knowledge and its role in educating the soulSelf-knowledge is one of the things which play a very important role in educating the soul and a human being’s understanding of his Essential Need to God, because if self-knowledge is correctly done, this will make a human being reach his existential perfection, which is the purpose of educating the soul. Mûllā Ṣâdrā believes that the perfection of soul is the true eudaimonia. According to him, a human being will reach the perfection of soul, i.e. the true eudaimonia, if he know God and is committed to divine teachings and rules as well. Thus, the vision of God requires both the theoretical knowledge and using the theoretical wisdom and the practical knowledge and using the practical wisdom. In fact, self-knowledge is a firm pillar that reliance upon it makes a human being approximate to God and reach other-worldly eudaimonia, and the negligence of it for those who have the capacity and possibility of acquiring it is the source of all miseries and evils in this world and the otherworld. Thus, if we study the cause of the close relationship between self-knowledge and knowledge of God from Mûllā Ṣâdrā’s view, we would reach the conclusion that, according to Mûllā Ṣâdrā, a Contingent being subsists in the Necessary Being, the Soul subsists in the Intellect, and the Intellect subsists in God. A human being’s understanding of his Existentiating Cause and its influence on educating the soulAccording to Mûllā Ṣâdrā, Existence is concomitant with Goodness and Eudaimonia, and since the existents are different in their perfection and imperfection, whichever existent is of a more perfect existence, its eudaimonia will be further and more perfect, and since the existence of God is the most perfect existence, He has existentially the highest degree of eudaimonia. For Mûllā Ṣâdrā, although the existence of everything is pleasant for it, understanding its existentiating cause is more pleasant for it, for its existentiating cause is the perfection of its existence. Hence, understanding the existentiating cause brings about more eudaimonia for a human being, for that cause is considered as the perfection of his existence. Thus, if a human being know his existentiating cause, his eudaimonia which is the purpose of educating the soul, will be more. Generally speaking, according to Mûllā Ṣâdrā, a human being’s understanding of his existentiating cause is, in fact, his understanding of his existence in a more perfect degree, for that cause is regarded as his existential perfection. When a human being understands his own existence, a pleasure and a state of eudaimonia are gained for him, and understanding his existentiating cause can bring about a higher degree of pleasure and edudaimonia for him, which is considered as the perfection of educating the soul.In Mûllā Ṣâdrā’s view, the Essence of God is the manifestation of all his Attributes and Names, and His essence is a mirror in which and by which the forms of all Contingent beings can be seen, without happening any immanence or union. For Mûllā Ṣâdrā, one of the features of an Effect is that it is present for its Cause and this presence can be of certain educational effects for a human being. One of these educational effects is a human being’s attention to God’s presence and understanding this presence. This means that understanding God’s Presence can make a human being control him against the sins. In other words, our sins have a reversed relation with faith in God and understanding His Presence; i.e., the more the faith, the less the sin. Besides, understanding God’s Presence can bring about responsibility and commitment for a human being. The growth of moral virtues in society, controlling the instincts, and avoiding of the violation of people’s rights are some of the other educational effects of attending to God’s Presence. At the same time, the most important educational effects of attending to God’s Presence are to strengthen the human spiritual wayfaring in this world, to give meaning to life, and to be liberated from nihilism. ConclusionAccording to Mûllā Ṣâdrā, a human being’s understandingof his Essential Need to God, who is his Exixtentiating Cause, can bring about educating the soul for him. Self-knowledge is one of the things which are very effective and useful in educating the soul. For Mûllā Ṣâdrā, the final end of a human being in his life is to reach his existential perfection, and his existential perfection is to reach the intellectual detachment and, thereby, the approximation to God. This means that a human being must be existentially assimilated to God, and his attributes must become similar to the Divine Attributes in order to understand God’s Presence. Besides, in Mûllā Ṣâdrā’s view, a Contingent being subsists in the Necessary Being, the Soul subsists in the Intellect, and the Intellect subsists in God. Finally, for Mûllā Ṣâdrā, Existence is concomitant with Goodness and Eudaimonia, and the existence of everything is pleasant for it, but its understanding of its existentiating cause is more pleasant for it, for that cause is its existential perfection. Therefore, if a human being know his existentiating cause, his eudaimonia which is the purpose of educating the soul, will be more.
Mahdi Assadi
Abstract
Allāmah Ṭabāṭabāyī, in his justification of the epistemic discussions tied to non–materiality, in particular non–materiality of the perception and the fact that the material things are subject to knowledge and understanding, proposes constancy of change and states that change in its ...
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Allāmah Ṭabāṭabāyī, in his justification of the epistemic discussions tied to non–materiality, in particular non–materiality of the perception and the fact that the material things are subject to knowledge and understanding, proposes constancy of change and states that change in its own changing is constant. The present paper is an attempt to provide a comprehensive critical study of the paradoxical nature of “constancy of the change” and its relation to non–materiality of knowledge. First and foremost, we focus on our specific criticisms levelled against constancy of change: the difference between the meaning of non–materiality and the meaning of constancy in constant material things, non–materiality of immobility, non–materiality of all of the material things, the problem of losing continuity in a specific constant, the confusion of permanency of motion/change with permanent motion/change, a counterexample refuting the necessity of non–materiality in knowledge and mental images, and, ultimately, the issue of infinite regress. And since some of the contemporaries too have found the paradoxical nature of constancy of change undesirable, we will have a short discussion on their criticisms and evaluations as well.
Mohsen Javadi; javad vafaei moghani; babak abbasi
Abstract
The appeal to Divine Wisdom, either as a direct axiom or a framework for other principles, has been widely prevalent in Mûtâkâllimūn’s arguments. In the present paper, after presenting some cases of this trend and through logical analysis, the Mû’tâzilite Âbd ...
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The appeal to Divine Wisdom, either as a direct axiom or a framework for other principles, has been widely prevalent in Mûtâkâllimūn’s arguments. In the present paper, after presenting some cases of this trend and through logical analysis, the Mû’tâzilite Âbd al-Jâbbār’s arguments based on Divine Wisdom are scrutinized and criticized in particular. As a hypothesis, the authors believe that the Mû’tâzilite Âbd al-Jâbbār’s appeal to this divine attribute is, at least partly, inaccurate and thus, his arguments are logically inconclusive. Seemingly, this divine attribute is often used in a posterior method, and this method has been applied merely to rationalize the religious dogmas and the revelatory statements discursively. In addition, elaboration on this particular topic requires a comprehensive inner knowledge about all details of the universe and the ultimate purpose of the creation. Many other cases which, based on this very principle, must have been done or created, and yet are left unrealized, can be taken as serious counter-examples for this theological framework. It should be noted that the main theme of this paper doesn’t concern the objective reality per se, for based on decisive rational arguments and the explicit religious teachings, all Divine actions are carried out in the ultimate wisdom for the ultimate good; rather, this paper aims at questioning the possibility of a comprehensive understanding of such wisdom and the human intellect’s capacity - with all its limitations and failures - for discerning its cases.
reza elhami; حجت Velaeirad
Abstract
Belief, along with religious and non-religious duties, are among the most important issues addressed by Sharia (Islamic law). It may be claimed that strong arguments can be put forward for the necessity of believing in the principles of religion. This article seeks to provide an answer to the question ...
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Belief, along with religious and non-religious duties, are among the most important issues addressed by Sharia (Islamic law). It may be claimed that strong arguments can be put forward for the necessity of believing in the principles of religion. This article seeks to provide an answer to the question raised with regard to the validity of certainty as follows: If somebody adopts a false belief through the recognition of his own intellect, or on the contrary, if somebody, through rational reasoning, denies a belief stablished in a religious community, how can the possibility of his worldly and hereafter punishment be justified based on rational reasoning? By examining the rational arguments and the jurists’ injunctions, we find out that since the validity of a decision is inherent, a person who is firm on a theory and performs actions accordingly, or abandons real and self-evident duties, it is impossible to make the actions obligatory contrary to his decision. Also, it can be concluded that although, in practice, it is possible to force him to show commitment or pretend to do so against his will, it is not possible for him to change his belief. Therefore, if his ignorance was his fault, he will be punished for his fault not for acting according to his belief.
Mahdi Afchangi; Yaser Salari
Abstract
Anthropology, along with cosmology and theology, are the three basic pillars of the underlying thought of any school of philosophy, theology and ideology. The identity and nature of man, the truth of his body and soul, the connection and interaction of soul and body, their story after death in the world ...
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Anthropology, along with cosmology and theology, are the three basic pillars of the underlying thought of any school of philosophy, theology and ideology. The identity and nature of man, the truth of his body and soul, the connection and interaction of soul and body, their story after death in the world of purgatory and then the resurrection day, and finally, the way the body and soul are intermingled are among the most important issues. The anthropology of Shaykhiya school has largely been affected with Sadrai school of anthropology. The impact can be attributed to Sheikh Ahmad Ahsaei’s deliberations with references to Mulla Sadra’s works. Although Ehsai accepts the essential movement of the soul and acknowledges the physical resurrection like Sadra, because of his difference with Sadra in his explanation of the human body and the nature of the world of examples, purgatory, the promise of the world of Horqalia, and finally, the resurrection day, he presents a picture different from the picture depicted in transcendental wisdom.
mohammadrasool imanikhoshkhoo
Abstract
In some verses of the holy Qur’an, there are references to the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus Christ. Although, from the perspective of traditional and trinity Christology, it is possible to consider them as evidence for a distinction for Jesus Christ, close consideration of the Holy Spirit ...
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In some verses of the holy Qur’an, there are references to the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus Christ. Although, from the perspective of traditional and trinity Christology, it is possible to consider them as evidence for a distinction for Jesus Christ, close consideration of the Holy Spirit referents in exegetic and narrative sources fails to confirm this perception. It is rather an indication of a Christ’s characteristic for which similar explanations can be found in modern Christology. The present paper is an attempt to find the points of similarity between Schleiermacher’s Christology which puts emphasis on Jesus' privilege of having a pure and continual knowledge of God giving him the infallibility of sin and the Islamic commentators’ interpretation of the Holy Qur'an’s verses which confirm the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus. Results of the study suggest that the shift of modern Christology from the concept of the union of the divine and the human in Jesus to the perception of the Holy Spirit as the highest human spiritual level provides a much better framework for the interpretation of the Qur’anic verses which deal with the confirmation of the descent of the Holy Spirit in Jesus. This rank which flourishes in perfect human beings and some prophets like Jesus enables them to gain direct knowledge of God and other truths with His help.
Haydar esmaeili; ali .fathollahi; allahyar rahmati
Abstract
One cannot ignore the importance of morality and its role in human happiness. It is because of its importance and the constructive role it plays in human life that both divine and materialistic schools of philosophy have some sort of moral style and philosophy of morality. The shared aspect of these ...
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One cannot ignore the importance of morality and its role in human happiness. It is because of its importance and the constructive role it plays in human life that both divine and materialistic schools of philosophy have some sort of moral style and philosophy of morality. The shared aspect of these schools of philosophy is that they consider ethics and the style of moral life as distinct and sometimes different from the spiritual and religious life. In some cases, the difference is so great that it has led to the separation of religion from morality, as is the case with Aristotelian ethics and Greek ethics as represented by western thinkers like _________________________ * Islamic Azad University Khorramabad Brach h_e1718@yahoo.com ** Islamic Azad University Khorramabad Brach ali.Fathollahi@yahoo.com *** Islamic Azad University Khorramabad Brach rahmati.allahyar@yahoo.com Reception date: 99/9/16 Acceptance date: 99/10/1 Kant and Machiavelli. As all divine religions share the same essence and are originated from the same source, and if they vary, the difference is due to the divine law which is subject to temporal and spatial conditions. Moreover, life style is consistent with the divine law and rules of divine religions and there is no morality without religion. These are the reasons why we decided to study the moral principles of the divine religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). The outcomes of the study are very interesting as they evidence the closeness and alignment of moral precepts in all divine religions. It is hoped that other scholars would explore other ethical aspects of the Abrahamic religions. The present study adopted a descriptive analytical method using library resources.
abdorrahim soleimani behbahani
Abstract
Verses 60 to 82 of Al-Kahf Sureh narrate the story of the meeting between Moses and Khidr. The events taking place while these two divine figures meet have been discussed or documented in the form of views expressed in the science of jurisprudence, ethics, education, theology, etc. The present paper, ...
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Verses 60 to 82 of Al-Kahf Sureh narrate the story of the meeting between Moses and Khidr. The events taking place while these two divine figures meet have been discussed or documented in the form of views expressed in the science of jurisprudence, ethics, education, theology, etc. The present paper, organized as a descriptive-analytic report, tries to infer the belief implications and to respond to doubts stemmed from some of the verses narrating the story. Exegetical works, with a theological approach, have addressed this topic in a scanty brief manner. Meanwhile, it is to be noted that the articles written about the mentioned verses mostly lack a theological approach. They rather deal with this topic from a moral, educational and mystical perspective. The present paper focuses on religious teachings that can be directly and indirectly deduced from the Qur'anic verses without reference to extra-Qur'anic reports and conflicting presuppositions. The most important religious implications of the verses in question can be listed as follows: the possibility that some people have the knowledge of the unseen world emanated from the divine source, the obligations attached to some types of occult knowledge of the God’s elected people, confirmation of the verbal rule of grace, deciphering the wisdom of some unfortunate phenomena and an answer to doubts stemmed from the problem of the evil.
Bibi Mahdiye Tabatabae; Hadi Samadi
Abstract
Those Iranian authors who have commented on the verification or falsification of the theory of evolution have approached it in very general way. Two types of explications can make future comments more accurate: first, noticing the fact that this theory consists of several sub-theories: It seems ...
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Those Iranian authors who have commented on the verification or falsification of the theory of evolution have approached it in very general way. Two types of explications can make future comments more accurate: first, noticing the fact that this theory consists of several sub-theories: It seems that ‘evolution-as-such’, ‘natural selection’, ‘common ancestor’, and ‘gradualism’ are largely confused in the writings of some Iranian writers. Most Iranian thinkers (Isfahani, Allameh Tabatabai, Allameh Jafari, Motahhari, Yadollah Sahabi, Makarem Shirazi, Mesbah Yazdi, Sobhani, Meshkini, and Abdolkarim Soroush) point to the issue of natural selection and common ancestor and believe that the reason for refutation or falsification of this theory is based on these two sub-theories. When considering the verification or falsification of a theory, it is necessary to pay attention to the analyses that have been made in the philosophy of science over the last century about the refutation and proof of a scientific theory. The present paper shows that the majority of Iranian writers' comments are based on these two sub-theories, though there are some exceptions. The authors' findings in this paper are twofold: first, the theory of natural selection as a principle is mathematically provable and therefore not subject to falsification. Second, other parts of the theory of evolution are falsifiable and unprovable, but subject to modification. That is why, many parts of the theory have been refuted or modified since Darwin.
Einollah Khademi
Volume 22, Issue 4 , April 2023, , Pages 71-98
Abstract
The problem of predestination and free will is one of the long-lasting and important topics which has preoccupied people's minds, and made scholars of different religions and doctorines to adopt a position toward it. The focus of the present paper is on Ameri’s perspective on this important issue. ...
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The problem of predestination and free will is one of the long-lasting and important topics which has preoccupied people's minds, and made scholars of different religions and doctorines to adopt a position toward it. The focus of the present paper is on Ameri’s perspective on this important issue. It is hypothesized that Ameri supports neither predestination nor absolute free will. He rather takes a mddile position. The main findings of this research are: to provide an answer to this research problem, Ameri first identify the point of conflict through distinguishing between the two aspects of an object, its intrinsic aspect and its non-intrinsic aspect, and between the types of actions- natural, forced, and intellectual. He believes that the two types of natural and forced actions are related to determinism, and the intellectual and desired actions are related to free wll. He further believes that it is the active power from which actions are issued, and the passive power is the power in which action are established. They are related to predestination and free will, and in the discussion of the three elements, only necessary by other than itself and possibility are related to the discussion of predestination and free will. He defends the theory of the creation of actions and provides reasons to refute predestination and delegation, and after refuting these two theories, he adopts the theory which takes the middle ground between these two theories. To prove the validity of this theory, he benefits from divine wisdom. In our evaluation of Ameri's theory we have made some reflections on predestination and free will.
Mojtaba Afsharpoor
Abstract
Perception, as one of the vital signs of the human soul, arises from the perceptual faculties by which the soul demonstrates its effect. In the peripatetic philosophical anthropology, the fivefold perceptual faculties, which are common sense, imagination, illusion, memory, and intellect, and the consideration ...
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Perception, as one of the vital signs of the human soul, arises from the perceptual faculties by which the soul demonstrates its effect. In the peripatetic philosophical anthropology, the fivefold perceptual faculties, which are common sense, imagination, illusion, memory, and intellect, and the consideration of animal perceptual faculties and their threefold perceptions as their outcome is a stablished view. In Mulla Sadra's works, there are seemingly inconsistent statements about the nature of perceptual faculties and their number. In some cases, similar to the Peripatetics, he speaks of the five faculties, in some other cases he denies illusion, in some other ones he calls common sense and imagination the strong and weak levels of a single faculty, and there are also cases in which he inspires the union of soul and faculties. The present article is an attempt to explain the ultimate form of Mulla Sadra's theory of inner perceptual faculties and to investigate the possibility of reconciling his seemingly inconsistent views. With an analytical-descriptive method, we try to explore the anthropology of transcendental wisdom through an analytical-descriptive method. The conclusion inferred from a comprehensive look at all the works in which Mulla Sadra has focused on perceptual faculties, is that he goes through several stages to reach his final theory, and that each seemingly inconsistent view is related to one of the stages of reaching his goal.
