Illustrating the Order of Existence by a Circular Diagram in Islamic Philosophy and Examining the Objections

Document Type : Scientific-research

Author

Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Iran (corresponding author)

Abstract

The assimilation of the Sensible to the Intelligible has been a technical and artistic effort throughout the history of Islamic philosophy. The Muslim philosophers have shown their skill in their circular metaphorical drawing the grades of existence, based on the two arcs of descent and ascent, and have enriched them with the revelatory teachings. In spite of all the basic and methodological differences in their views, the centrality of believing in the Origin and the Return has made an agreement between them on drawing this circle. The substantiality of the basic principle of believing in the Origin and the Return, taking use of the revealed texts; i.e. the Qur’anic verses, and some philosophical concepts such as the Gradedness of Existence, are some common principles in all schools of Islamic philosophy, and my explanation in this paper is based on these principles. In a paper entitled “A Critical Look at the ‘Fayḍ’-oriented Approach to Islamic Philosophy and its Consequences for Education”, its author in a part of his objections to the ontological principles of Islamic philosophy, has criticized the circular order consisting of the arcs of descent and ascent, has described it as a “problematic and not very skillful plan”, and in the shadow of this description, has made some misplaced objections to the whole of the system of Islamic philosophy. In expressing the views of Muslim philosophers and examining the objections of that paper to the concepts of “the Gradedness of Existence” and “the Descent of God’s ‘Fayḍ’”, I will follow the principles of criticism, which are based on my explanation.

Keywords

References

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