Quarterly of the History of Philosophy

Volume 12

Plato's Critique of Parmenides' Idea of Being

Sa'id Binaye Mutlaq

In the first half of his poems, which are in fact an account of his ascent to deities, Parmenides talks about being, the correct path leading to knowledge, and distinguishing it from the wrong path. Plato's critique of his view appeared in the dialogue of the Sophist while defining the characteristics of a sophist. What does Parmenides say about being, and what is the relationship between his words in this regard and the definition of the sophist? The present paper aims to respond to such questions and explain the necessity of criticizing Parmenides.

Key Terms

Parmenides                                                Plato

Sophist                                                      Megarian

being                                                          Prajapati

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The Soul in Proclus and Shaykh al-Ishraq

Sa'id Rahimian and Zahra Eskandari

The discussion of the soul has always been of great importance to thinkers. From among Muslim philosophers, Shaykh al-Ishraq has paid particular attention to the issue of the soul. That is why Shahrzuri, the great commentator of Hikmat al-ishraq, believes that, after the demonstration of the Necessary Being and His Oneness, the issue of the soul is the most critical problem that has been explored in this school of philosophy. A great part of the works of Neo-Platonists, such as Plato and Plotinus, is also devoted to the discussion of the soul. After Plotinus, Proclus is the most prominent Neo-Platonist philosopher who has presented some invaluable and innovative theories and ideas regarding the levels of being. He was born in Constantinople in fifth century AD and was the head of Athens' school for a long time. The emphasis placed on the elements of life and presential knowledge in the knowledge of the soul by Proclus and Shaykh al-Ishraq provides the context for comparing the ideas of these two philosophers concerning the soul. This paper presents a comparison of the views of these two thinkers about the issue of the soul.

Key Terms

Proclus                                                       Suhrawardi

soul                                                            life

presential knowledge

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Theory of Art in Islamic Philosophy and Wisdom

Hassan Bulkhari Qahi

From among the four essentialist theories posed on the nature of art in the history of philosophy of art, the theory of mimesis is the oldest and the most famous and important of all. From a ritual perspective, this theory is rooted in Greeks' mythological ideas and, from a philosophical perspective, in Plato and Aristotle's philosophical thoughts. The mimesis theory, which provided the basis for the negation of Art by Plato, who claimed that art imitates objects, which are themselves imperfect imitations of ideas, found a supreme place in Aristotle's system of thoughts. In fact, in his Poetics he dealt with it from a completely philosophical approach. He considered mimesis an imitation of human states and behaviors and greatly benefitted from it in his discussion of tragedy and comedy. Neo-Platonists and, above all, Plotinus provided an innovative and new version of this theory. Now, relying on the theory of emanation, they considered art as an imitation of intelligible forms and not imperfect material ones. This concept was later welcomed by Christian and then by Muslim philosophers. During the era of the translation movement, Muslims initially translated some of the important Greek works such as Poetics. From among the translators of this work, we can refer to such reputable scholars as Abu Ishaq al-Kindi, Ishaq Ibn Hunayn, and Abi Bashar Mata Ibn Yunus. There is no trace of al-Kindi's translation, and Ishaq's translation was apparently from Greek into Syriac. However, Mata's translation from Syriac into Arabic is completely available. In the middle of these works, the translation of the term mimesis into Arabic, according to Muhammed Salim Salem in Ibn Rushd's book (Talkhis Kitab Arastootalis fi al-Shi'r), had a different fate. In his view, none of the translators and interpreters of Poetics had managed to perceive the accurate meaning of mimesis as defined and limited by Aristotle. Therefore, they mixed some concepts such as allegory, simile, and imitation with each other when translating it. Salim Salem ignored the term imagination, which is said to have been coined by Farabi and used by Ibn Sina in the interpretation of mimesis. This was a term that clarified Aristotle's idea of mimesis more completely than he assumed. Farabi is the same second teacher who, in the discussion of imagination, promoted the realm of imagination from a means for the demonstration and explanation of revelation to the level of supralunury worlds, while in Aristotle's view the end of the flight of imagination was the roof of the sublunary world. This paper aims to explore and analyze the first approaches of Muslim translators and thinkers to the meaning of the term "mimesis".

Key Terms

mimesis                                                      imitations

Greek philosophy                                      translation movement

Muslim philosophers

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Ibn Sina's Eastern Philosophy

Fateme Soleimani

Unlike the prevailing idea, Ibn Sina is not a purely Peripatetic philosopher and cannot be placed against the Illuminationist philosophy as the head of Muslim Peripatetics. Rather, based on his oriental philosophy, he intends to provide a new philosophical approach which is different from the rationalist Peripatetic tradition. By writing some works such as The Three-fold Allegorical-gnostic Treatises, he paved the way for the development of Suhrawardi's Illuminationist philosophy. In these treatises, through allegorical expressions and symbols, he explains the spirit's journey from the soulish West (darkness) towards the soulish East (light). In the ninth namat of al-Isharat entitled Maqamat al-'arifin, he describes this journey and refers to its different stages. In this part of al-Isharat, through introducing the gnostic, elaborating on the stages of the mystic journey, and finally discussing a mystic's states in the course of attaining the truth, Ibn Sina highlights the significance of the intuitive method and mystic journey in unveiling the truth. In fact, what is observed in Maqamat al-'arifin consists of an extensive interpretation of Ibn Sina's three-fold allegorical-gnostic stories.

Key Terms

oriental philosophy                                    gnostic intuition

allegorical stories                                       gnostic

stages of mystic journey                            Ibn Sina

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A Study of Heidegger's Philosophy concerning the Concept of "Being and Time" from a Metaphysical and Ta'wili Perspective

Ali Ramezani and Qorban Ali Muhammednejad

The concept of being and time is one of the most central discussions in Heidegger's philosophy. Here, time is rooted in eternity; therefore, to understand it, one should first believe in eternity as a metaphysical entity and apprehend it correctly. On the other hand, regarding the problem of understanding, Heidegger has stepped beyond the common line of research and, instead of introducing some basic principles and methods for grasping it, discusses the problem itself. Accordingly, understanding is an ontological rather than a methodological and epistemological concept.

He portrays time in three forms: "routine, natural, and global" and deals with it from a ta'wili (hermeneutic) ontological view. The present paper is intended to explore Heidegger's metaphysical and ta'wili approach to the problem of "being and time".

Key Terms

being                                                          Heidegger

time                                                           ta'wil

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Ibn Sina: Peripatetic Philosophy in Illuminationist Worldview (A Study of Ibn Sina's Allegorical Interpretation)

Qasim Pourhassan and Muhsen Mansuri

The Sinian gnostic allegories and writings explain spirituality following an Illuminationist approach and teach us that the literature included in them is not purely abstract. Unseen ideas in gnostic allegories concern inner perceptions. Therefore, they take the mind beyond the level of intellectual perception and lead it towards the realm of the world of the soul and the world beyond the senses. In this way, one can explore Ibn Sina's philosophical thoughts in order to find a way to attain his philosophical purpose. All through Ibn Sina's epistemological philosophy, there is the possibility of shifting from pure philosophical discussions to gnostic trends. It appears from his writings that his Sufism and Illuminationist views are the same as his rational and theoretical thoughts. This paper aims to examine allegorical interpretation in Ibn Sina's Illuminationist works and investigate its principles so that, in this way, his Peripatetic philosophy looms in the light of his Illuminationst principles.

Key Terms

Ibn Sina                                                                     interpretation

allegory                                                                      ishraq (illumination)

gnosis

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Bibliography of the History of Ancient Philosophies

Sa'id Anwari

Today, the writers of the books on the history of Islamic philosophy and the influence of Greek philosophy upon it, in addition to referring to philosophers' original works, have also used some other sources which can be called books on the history of ancient philosophies. This paper introduces the bibliography of these books into two parts of published and unpublished works so that, through familiarity with valid sources, the way is paved for devising more complete and accurate history books in the field of Islamic philosophy.

Key Terms

history of Islamic philosophy                    Tarikh al-hukama

Tarajim                                                      Tabaqat

Sirah