Quarterly of the History of Philosophy
Volume 2
Ibn Sina
Professor Seyyed Mohammed Khamenei
Learning about the philosophy and even life of a philosopher is only possible in the light of deliberating over the conditions of the period in which he lived. This is even more necessary concerning the prominent philosophers whose innovations have opened new chapters in the history of philosophy.
Although several attempts have been made to bring Ibn Sina's life and school to light, none of them truly reflects his ideas. One of the most important reasons for the failure of these attempts has been the unreliable and unauthentic nature of the sources used by researchers in this regard.
The present paper aims at providing a true picture of Ibn Sina through studying his life and philosophy in the historical context in which he lived. It reveals that he was not only a philosopher and scientist, but also a political activist who tried to promote Imamiyyah Shi'ism under the cover of the network of Isma'iliyyah and Batiniyyah Shi'ism. If the conditions were right, he might have been able to play a more effective role than Khwajah Nasir al-Din Tusi in this regard.
Key Terms
Imamiyyah Shi'ism Batiniyyah
Oriental Philosophy Ibn Sina
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A Glance at the Background, Attributes, and Consequences of Isfahan's School of Philosophy
Ali Karbasizadeh Isfahani
The Safawid period not only witnessed the revival of the Shi'ite religious sciences, different industries, and political and economic power in Iran, but was also the period of the advancement of intellectual sciences, particularly Islamic wisdom, to the highest level of perfection. Although Islamic philosophy was attacked by such powerful theologians and thinkers as Imam Muhammed Ghazzali, this led the development and spread of Islamic philosophy to follow a different process and to be mixed with Iranian and Shi'ite philosophical traditions. In its process of growth, through formulating a number of principles other than those of Greek philosophy, Islamic philosophy gradually managed to synthesize various philosophical schools followed by Muslim thinkers, including theological, gnostic, and philosophical schools, on the basis of Shi'ism. This creative synthesis came to its culmination in Isfahan's School of Philosophy, so that it greatly benefitted from Qur'anic verses and Shi'ite traditions in its philosophical deliberations. In this way, thanks to Iranian Muslim philosophers, a new approach and a kind of renaissance in intellectual sciences took place which is referred to as the spiritual philosophy of Shi'ism rooted in the "prophetic (nabawi) wisdom". In this regard, Mir Damad, the Third Teacher and the founder of Isfahan school, made great efforts in order to develop and consolidate "Yamani Philosophy". Moreover, he managed to create a harmony between the Sinan intellectual philosophy, and Illuminative thoughts and Ibn Arabi's gnosis in the bed of Shi'ism. Mir Damad's students and advocates, following their master, tried hard to develop, disseminate, and continue Isfahan's school of philosophy. From among its fruits, we can refer to the rise of Sadrain Transcendent Philosophy, on the one hand, and the Tanzihi philosophy of Mulla Rajab'ali Tabrizi, on the other. Of course, there were also some other groups and branches consisting of students studying directly or indirectly under Mir Damad who were active in Isfahan's seminary either as teachers or philosophers. Reference will also be made to their names in this paper.
Key Terms
spiritual philosophy of Shi'ism Isfahan's School
harmonious groups Oriental House of Knowledge
Third Teacher Book and Sunna
Transcendent Philosophy
Mulla Rajab'ali Tabrizi's seminary
teachings and hadiths of the people of the Prophet's House
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Place of Practical Wisdom in the History of Islamic Philosophy
Gholamreza Fada'i 'Araqi
This paper deals with practical wisdom, that is, the sciences related to human behaviors and acts (an important part of humanities) in order to satisfy their individual and social livelihood needs. It also discusses why human acts, which are the subject of the second part of Aristotelian philosophy, apparently enjoy a lower level of importance, although everything in the world of mind and human knowledge depends on their acts and behaviors! It is a question why most philosophers, perhaps following Aristotle, have paid less attention to this part, or why they have not discussed all of its aspects and have mainly dealt with individual ethics following a gnostic approach. Neither have they considered a similar truth for them against theoretical issues. The same process was also followed in the world of Islam, and all philosophers paid attention to theoretical wisdom as the main branch of philosophy, dealt with practical wisdom mostly in terms of individual ethics, and finally limited it to gnosis.
The writer believes that perhaps the theoretical and practical classification of wisdom has led to such a view. However, it seems that human acts are not independent from theory, exactly in the same way that theory is meaningless without an act that is in conformity to it. If we dare to revise this classification, we can grant a high place to practical wisdom. In this classification, wisdom, which is the human knowledge for attaining the desired perfection, can be divided into nature and human both theoretically and practically. At the end of this paper, some proofs from the Qur'an have also been provided to confirm this view.
Key Terms
theoretical wisdom practical wisdom
real perceptions mentally-posited perceptions
theory and practice Aristotelian classification
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Role of the Transcendent Philosophy in the Creation and Development of Science in Iran
Muhammed Ali Nawidi
The present paper deals with the role of philosophy and thought in general and the role of the Transcendent Philosophy in particular in the creation and development or the growth and dynamism of science in Iran. This is one of the subjects which is extremely important to be dealt with not only from a historical point of view but also in terms of its present role and applications. Philosophy and science in Iranian culture and civilization have always worked hand in hand. The history of philosophy in Iran is as long as the history of knowledge, science, and civilization in the world. Moreover, the golden periods of science in Iran (whether in ancient Iran or in the Iran of the Islamic period) have always been intertwined with the appearance and existence of wisdom and rationalization; whenever this country has experienced a period of decline in science and civilization, the signs of stepping out of the realm of wisdom and philosophy and falling apart with it have been quite visible.
On the other hand, wisdom and rationality are among the basic pillars of the Transcendent Philosophy, and, basically, a rational process is at the heart of man's process of development which leads to his production and expansion of science. There is a direct relationship between the Transcendent Philosophy and the rise of science. Mulla Sadra's thoughts and the Transcendent Philosophy contributed to the creation and development of knowledge and general and particular sciences in different ways. From among these contributions, we can refer to maintaining and expanding the domain of rationality and scientific thinking, protecting and transferring the philosophical and rational legacy of Iran and Islam, the training of thinkers and intellectual people in the domain of the Transcendent Philosophy, presenting modern methods in philosophical-scientific studies, and portraying the future directions of rational and scientific thought.
The purposes of this research are three-fold: first, to examine the relationship between wisdom and science in the land of Iran and its culture and civilization; second, to analyze the relationship between the Transcendent Philosophy and the rise and growth of science in Iran; thirdly, to scrutinize and clarify the particular and profound role of the rationality and logical thinking observed in the Transcendent Philosophy in the production, expansion, and development of science in Iran.
Key Terms
wisdom creation
science Iran
Mulla Sadra
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Movement of the Translation of the Scientific-Philosophical Texts of Islamic Civilization into Latin in Europe
Hossein Kalbasi Ashtari
According to many of the researchers in the field of the history of science and philosophy, the role of the scientific and philosophical texts of Islamic civilization in awakening the West and promoting its scientific and industrial breakthroughs is known to everyone. In the time interval between 11th and 13th centuries, a great number of Muslims' scientific and philosophical works were translated from Arabic into Latin. In this process, even the philosophical and scientific texts and sources of the Greek, particularly Aristotle, were introduced to the Western World through Muslims. As admitted by a number of Western historians and thinkers, if this historical event, i.e. the translation of Arabic works into Latin, had not taken place, the Western world might have never been acquainted with the huge treasure of Greek knowledge. On the other hand, in the course of this movement, in addition to the translation of Greek works from Arabic into Latin, many of the commentaries and interpretations of Muslim thinkers found their way into the West, and, in this way, many of the scientific complexities and problems of those works were removed in the light of the endeavors of Muslim thinkers. The details of this great scientific-cultural event are not quite clear yet; hence, this paper will only refer to the most important of them.
Key Terms
Latin Translation Movement translation houses
pseudo-works Kitab al-'ilal
Muslim Spain
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Creation in the Vedas
Ali Naqi Baqirshahi
Vedic hymns, in addition to praising Gods and mythical figures, also deal with the problem of creation. In the Vedas water is introduced as the basic element of the world. Some Vedic hymns refer to the creato-ex-nihilo, which is in conformity with what we read in this regard in other revealed Books. For example, in Avestan texts, water is introduced as a heavenly and cosmic element which is the essence of life. Sumerians, Egyptians, and the Greek also believed that water was the first thing that the Creator created. In some Vedic hymns, creation has taken place through performing sacrifices. Gods perform the sacrifice, and the organs of the God who has sacrificed himself represent the different degrees of creation. The world of being is actualized through such sacrifice, and oneness turns into plurality. In general, creation in the Vedas takes place through some mythical forces that play a role in the development of the world.
This paper also deals with the problem of monotheism in the Vedas and, by reference to some Vedic hymns and the ideas of Indian researchers, (which are in contrast to the ideas of Orientalists), demonstrates that monotheism existed in the Vedas, and that the assumption of polytheism in them is false.
Key Terms
Vedas creation
myths gods
water being
nothingness sacrifice
unity plurality
world
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Mulla Sadra and the Second Greek Philosopher: Anaximander or Anaxagoras?
Ahmad Asgari
In some of his works, Mulla Sadra has paid attention to the history of philosophy and its beginning in Greece and referred to early philosophers and their ideas. The second philosopher of Malatya is Anaximander; however, Mulla Sadra has named Anaxagoras as the second one. Moreover, the ideas that Mulla Sadra has quoted from him are a combination of those of both Anaximander and Anaxagoras. In this paper, the writer has tried to explore the reasons of this problem. Moreover, Mulla Sadra has provided some brief explanations concerning their ideas which, although inconsistent with historical facts, are not far from reality (at least in some cases) and can be taken into consideration as justifiable interpretations of their words.
Key Terms
Anaximander Anaxagoras
Mulla Sadra material principle
intellect