Philosophers of Shiraz
In the beginning of the 8th century, a philosophical-gnostic seminary was founded in Fars province and mainly in Shiraz, which must be considered as one of Khwajah Nasir al-Din Tusi's services to philosophical society. At first glance, we can see that this led to the fast growth of theology following the method of Tusi's Tajrid al-kalam. As we know, this book has a philosophical spirit but theology was the dress that he chose for its Sinan structure. One of the prominent figures of this seminary, which we have sometimes referred to as the School of Shiraz, was Qutb al-Din Shirazi (Mahmud Ibn Mas'ud, died in 710 AH). He was a student of Tusi and did not reside in Shiraz. However, since his students founded this seminary, we consider him as the forerunner of this school. The others include Qadi Izzuddin Iji (Rukn al-Din 'Abdulrahman, died in 756 AH), his student Mir Seyyed Sharif Jurjani (Seyyed Ali Ibn Muhammed, died in 814 AH or after that), his student Qutb al-Din Kushkanari (Muhammed Ibn Muhyaddin), and his student Jalal al-Din Dawani (Muhammed Ibn As'ad, died in 908 AH). All of them were among the well-known scholars of their period and contemporary with Dawani Sadr al-Din Dashtaki (Muhammed Ibn Ibrahim, murdered in 903 AH), his son Ghiyath al-Din (Mansur Ibn Muhammed, died in 948 or 949 AH), Shams al-Din Khafi (Muhammed Ibn Ahmed, died in 942 AH), Kamal al-Din Meibodi (Hussein Ibn Mu'in al-Din, died in 909-910 AH), Sammaki (Amir Fakhr al-Din, died in 985), and some others who are not much famous.
More than anyone else, Mulla Sadra respected Sadr al-Din Dashtaki, Jalal al-Din Dawani, and Ghiyath al-Din. However, he sometimes referred to Qadi Iji, and Seyyed Sharif Jurjani. He also refers to Amir Sadr al-Din Dashtaki known as Seyyed Sanad and his son, Ghiyath al-Din, with great respect and refers to his son with such nicknames as Ghiyath. However, in no place in al-Asfar has he followed them regarding any problems and has even directly emphasized his independence. For example, concerning the problem of the unitary combination of the soul and body, which both believe in, Mulla Sadra says, "There is a great difference between his idea (of union) and ours." In another place, he says, "I swear to my own life that a path in which the concept of existence turns into the truth of existence is the closest to the path of truth."
The same case is also clearly true about Dawani. Although he refers to him with great respect and calls him "al-Allamah al-Nahrir" and "sublime researcher", he rejects almost all the ideas that he quotes from him sometimes with contempt and sometimes with surprise. In general, we cannot consider Mulla Sadra the true child of the philosophical-theological school of Shiraz and Fars, which lasted for two centuries. He is the child of his own principles and achievements and is not indebted to anyone or any school.
All we can say about him is that the main philosophical trends and schools, such as Ibn Sina's school (Iranian Peripatetic school), Iranian and Islamic gnosis, and the ancient philosophy of Iran and Alexandria have a share in the construction of the sublime structure of his Transcendent philosophy. However, they play the role of peripheral elements and not the main pillars of this school because the principles of his school have all been developed in his own workshop with the divine source of inspiration as its architect in the light of the illuminations and rays of divine guidance.
Mulla Sadra's superiority lies in the fact that, through his power of reasoning and in the light of divine illuminations, he managed to combine the experiences, ideas, and theories of early philosophers and use them in order to develop his unique theories and, in a sense, relying on the magic of thoughts, he succeeded in transforming copper into pure gold. Therefore, although he is not a follower and imitator of any school, he has based his own school of philosophy on other schools developed in the course of centuries in Iran and in the world. The truth is that if earlier philosophers and philosophies had not existed, the Transcendent Philosophy would have never come into existence.
* * *
One of the peripheral but significant points in the study of the books of scholars, philosophers, and thinkers is to examine and discuss the books that they wrote for kings, rulers, or the aristocrats of the time and sometimes for their friends and disciples. Thus it would be useful to refer to this questionable point when speaking of Mulla Sadra's books.
In the past, writing books for great men usually originated in three basic motives: becoming closer to them in order to attain wealth and high positions, trying to train them and teach them the correct ways of life indirectly by using the language of science, and fearing for one's life and trying to protect oneself against their threats by complying to their demands.
A clear example for the first motive is Fada'il al-mustazhariyyah wa fadayeh al-batiniyyah by Abu Hamid Ghazzali. After being deprived of the Seljuks' support and following the demise of Tusi and Malikshah, he wrote this book in a belated attempt in order to become close to and seek the friendship of the young Abbasid caliph, al-Mustahzar bi Allah (the son of the dethroned Muqtadir bi Allah). He also wrote this book for him so that, while continuing his attacks against the Shi'ites and the followers of the leadership (Imamat) of the Prophet's Household, to acknowledge the legitimacy of that offspring of the garden of the luxury and lustful pleasures of Baghdad's caliphate. In one place in the book, unlike the method of the followers of early caliphs, who considered them only the vicegerents of the Holy Prophet (s), he granted this young caliph even the divine position of the "caliph of God" and moved him from the earthly gatherings of wine and mistresses to the supreme heaven!
Such flattering efforts sometimes resulted in gaining proximity to kings and rulers; however, the hand of divine revenge sometimes changed the outcome, and the premises of the syllogism led to an opposite conclusion. As we can see in this case, the young caliph, instead of making him the supreme judge or appoint him as his minister, drove him away from himself. As a result, Ghazzali returned to his homeland, Tus and Nishabur, in utmost despair and frustration and started writing some works on ethics and Sufism which had no deep meaning beyond their words, and there was no jewel in their shells.
As mentioned before, philosophers, scholars, gnostics, and poets sometimes created some works for great men of their time which contained some moral lessons and wise advice beyond their apparently scientific or ethical (and sometimes literary) appearance. Their purpose here was to influence the cruel hearts of the rulers and kings, guide them towards humanity, and keep the public immune against their beastly behaviors and ferociousness. Sa'di's Golestan, Akhlaq-i Nasiri, and Akhlaq-i Muhtashami belong to this group of books.
The third group of such books were written by scholars and philosophers according to the demands made by kings and rulers in order to appreciate the gifts they had bestowed upon them and their good conduct or to avoid the danger of their wrath and the fire of their revenge. As a result, a book or booklet was written in their names, and in its Introduction the king or the ruler was celebrated with great respect.
Perhaps, we can consider Jami' Abbasi by Shaykh Baha al-Din 'Amuli and Sirat al-mustaqim by Mir Damad as two examples of such books. This is because they were most probably written in response to the order of Shah Abbas I and in his name. Other examples in this regard include Tusi's Awsaf al-ashraf and Akhlaq-i Nasiri, which he wrote for Sahib bin 'Ibad and Nasir al-Din Qahestani, respectively.
We have no knowledge of any book that Mulla Sadra wrote for any of these three purposes except for an Introduction that is available is some copies of his book Huduth al-'alam, which he dedicated to the supreme ruler of Fars, Imam Quli Khan, the son of Allah Verdi Khan, who was apparently Mulla Sadra's student or paid great respect to him (as discussed in the first volume of this book). Both Allah Verdi Khan and his son were familiar with philosophy and literature.
However, like his master Shaykh Baha, Mulla Sadra despised "power and wealth" and avoided the company of kings. Like other lovers and finders of truth, he was involved in the training of the youth and novice lovers of wisdom and gnosis. Hence, we see that in some of his books he writes about philosophy as a difficult science while presenting several arguments and reasonings and in some others as the knowledge of ethics along with many proofs and effects in order to help his students to fly with the two wings of knowledge and ethics.
He also teaches his students, unlike some scholars and teachers, not to go to the kings' courts for the purpose of gaining wealth and position, not to exchange their lawful and legitimate income with the unlawful wealth of the courtiers, and not to be deceived by external glory and magnificence. He writes in his Waridat al-qalbiyyah as follows:
It has been said that keeping away from society is the perfection of humanity, which is the truth, because we see in our time some teachers who are permanently enslaved by the favors of rulers...These miserable teachers always go to the courts of kings and are humiliated (in order to receive something). If it were not for the laughter and mockery of the Satan and courtiers, they would have learned that the reason behind the corruption dominating the time was nothing but these new so-called jurisprudents.[1]
These frank and bitter words that signify the depth of the pain this philosopher was suffering from reveal the nature and methods of the scholars of the Safawid period. This is also true about the philosophers before him and is perhaps true to some extent about the scholars of today.
A question that deserves to be investigated from the view point of philosophy and the history of philosophy is why, despite the evident opposition and natural inconformity between the courts of kings and rulers, on the one hand, and wisdom, knowledge, and philosophy, on the other, some scientists, philosophers, jurisprudents, and people of virtue and purity sought the company of kings and served as prime ministers, consultants and judges to them?
In the history of ancient Iran, there was a noble class called the magi who were guardians of religion, philosophy, human sciences, and methods of government as well as men of ascetic practice, unveiling, intuition, and illumination. This group always held ministerial positions and administered the affairs of the country. In China and India, too, a group of clergymen served as ministers to kings and even taught them military strategies, devised war plans for them, and shared their knowledge of astronomy and calendar with them.
The answer to the above query is that this method was wise and dictated by wisdom: first, rulers and kings who had taken seize of the country with the power of their weapons and army knew based on common sense and experience that conquering a country is easy but ruling it is extremely difficult, and it is impossible to administer its affairs by means of force, immature thoughts, or deception. This is because the administration of a country requires wisdom and the so-called politics in the sense of philosophy. Accordingly, they saw themselves in need of the magi, praised them, provided for their life, and listened carefully to their words, advice, and teachings so as not to make any mistakes in governing the country and the nation and not to lose control of them.
Second, one of the certain principles of the philosophy of that time, which was known as Eastern or Khusrawani philosophy, indicated that government, politics, and administration of society are the duties of philosophers, and they are completely qualified to take charge of such affairs. In other words, a ruler must be a "philosopher" to know about the secrets of creation, the laws of the world, and human expediency, to be equipped with wisdom and prudence, and to learn his knowledge and abilities to help people with satisfying their ordinary needs and distinguishing the good from evil, and the ugly from the beautiful.
Nevertheless, since at that time, under the influence of their ancient culture and traditions, kingship was considered to be a divine gift bestowed by divine glory, and the kings were wrongly assumed to have been the descendants of gods, the magi also used their knowledge and wisdom alongside the kings but for the good of their people and country in political affairs. The names of some of these famous philosophers such as Jamasp, Bozorgmehr (Buzarjomehr), and Dadbeh have been mentioned in history.
After the rise of Islam, its spread in Iran, and the falling of government out of the hands of the vicegerents of the Holy Prophet (s) (the offspring of Imam Ali (a), the Commander of the Faithful), the rule of Muslims lost its spiritual and divine form and was no more under a management based on the heavenly knowledge of the Imams (a) and fell into the hands of some ordinary people. As a result, the "divine rule" turned into an ordinary and "common rule", and the rulers of the time who had failed to perform the difficult responsibility of ruling the country inevitably felt the need to intelligent and knowledgeable people and appointed them as their ministers. That is why the use of learned men, philosophers, or literary men as ministers became common. The rulers of that time, in spite of their immense weakness of perception had discovered the truth that ruling a country is too difficult to be done by a single person. Even the Holy Prophets(s), who enjoyed the highest level of human intellect, had the divine mission to consult his wise friends and seek help from them before making any decision or taking any action.[2]
From among other examples of such philosophers and jurisprudents, we can refer to Ibn Sina, Ibn Miskawayh, Tusi, Muhaqqiq Karaki, Shaykh Baha al-Din 'Amuli, who, apparently according to their own free will but in fact under duress, were involved in administering the country alongside the kings, as well as in serving people, protecting Islam and philosophy, and defending philosophers and scholars. However, in order to attain such goals, they had to tolerate the company of ferocious and beastly kings and rulers and embrace great pains. Here, we are talking about kings who executed people under the most trivial pretexts such as, according to Sa'di, a simple unwelcomed greeting.
In the Islamic theory of rulership and government, rulership belongs to Almighty God, the Creator of Man and the world. He granted this right to His prophets and, then, to their specific successors. After the Infallible Imams (a), rulership is the right of the "jurisprudent", i.e. one who has a vast knowledge of religious laws or Shari'ah (the collection of wisdom and Shari'ah was called "major jurisprudence" and sole Shari'ah was called "minor jurisprudence) and the frameworks of the limits, conditions, descriptions, and traditions of Shar'i laws as emphasized in hadith.
However, when the government, because of force, tyranny, or people's ignorance, falls in the hands of laymen and unqualified people, both for the philosopher before the intellect and the jurisprudent before the religious law, given the conditions, there are two ways and duties which differ from each other. As a result, the philosopher and the jurisprudent must choose one which is necessitated by the dominating conditions:
1. If cooperating with rulers can be of any service to Islam and people, weaken the dominance of evil and corruption, and protect science and scientists, it is allowed by both the intellect and Shari'ah. They also issue the order of their becoming ministers and counselors to kings and remain in company with them as a necessary law.
2. However, if the intellect and Shari'ah judge that giving counsel to the court is not useful, they will issue an absolute decree to leave the kings' courts and avoid their realm of power.
Ibn Sina spent many years of his precious life on serving as minister to the rulers of Rey, Hamedan, and Gorgan; however, he never accepted the ministry of a blood-thirsty tyrant like Mahmud Ghaznawi and never served at the court of Baghdad's caliphs. Tusi tamed the Mongol Hulagu and not only made him give up idolatry and turn to Islam but also used his influence in order to support knowledge and scholars. His time marked one of the brightest periods of wisdom and science in Iran.
All in all, philosophy has sharp and far-reaching eyes and a specific decree for every person and each historical time. A philosopher should know his duty in every period and recognize and choose the best for people. Hence, we can find three types of philosophers in the workshop of wisdom: 1. the philosopher for the government, 2. the philosopher for the nation, and 3. the philosopher for the self.
The third type is content with ethics and self-making from among all the areas of practical wisdom. These two areas save the drowned and deal with politics, government, and administration of the nation's affairs.
Mulla Sadra never sought proximity to rulers. He was quite familiar with different courts and rulers when he was in company with his own father, who was also a minister. He clearly witnessed the pain that his two masters, Shaykh Baha al-Din and Mir Damad, were suffering from and was completely familiar particularly with the oppressive, cruel, womanizing, and lustful nature of the Safawid king. Hence, wisdom necessitated it for him not to be a philosopher for the government. Therefore, he spent all his life inevitably on self-making, self-purification, and serving philosophy and the enthusiastic philosophy-seeking youth. He set the table of his gifts with his books and other works so that, until the sun rises from the East, they illuminate the human thought like the rays of sun.
Unlike some secluded scholars, Mulla Sadra did not choose seclusion for personal benefit. We can clearly see his striving and fighter spirit in his books Si asl and Kasr al-asnam and view him as a frank, brave, and valiant man in the war field; however, like his restless but wise predecessor, Nasir Khusraw 'Alawi, he never presented the jewel of his wisdom to human-looking pigs.[3]
He never went to the Safawid court and its rulers and kept himself out of the range of their poisonous arrows. He never even wrote any books and treatises for them. Because of the wealth he had inherited from his father, he never accepted anything from aristocrats and perhaps, like Imam Ali (a), he divided his possessions with his students so that they protect the honor of knowledge and wisdom and never turn to the court and presence of rulers and kings out of material needs.
Abstracts
Trans-Substantial Motion, Restless Nature or Unstable Nature
Clearly, the world of nature is continually in a state of change and evolution. All of us experience such changes in our daily life; for example, we see that a plant rises from under the soil, grows bigger, becomes green, and finally dries out and turns into soil. Even solid things are not immune against such changes and evolutions, and older phenomena continually are replaced by newer ones through physical and chemical interactions.
Therefore, the element of change in phenomena in an evident and undeniable fact; however, there are some serious debates among philosophers and thinkers regarding the philosophical interpretation and explanation of this change. Some of the controversies in this respect are as follows:
Does this change occur in the form of "generation and corruption", i.e. in a sudden and discontinuous way, or in the form of a motion, i.e. gradually and continuously? How inclusive is this change? Does motion occur only in accidents and phenomena or does it also take place in the substance or essence of things? Is this change in the form of dressing after undressing, i.e. corruption and generation, or is it in the form of dressing after dressing, i.e. is the object continually in the state of becoming and moving from potency to actuality? This paper examines and criticizes the theories of philosophers and thinkers on motion.
Key Terms
generation and corruption trans-substantial motion
sudden motion renewal of Ideas
undressing and dressing dressing after dressing
Ethical Consequences of the Trans-Substantial Motion
Ethics and ethical values cannot be separated from the human life. Accordingly, all scholars of ethics have emphasized its importance and warned against taking no heed of it. On the other hand, Man's intellectual tendency towards ethical discussions demands a study of the effects of philosophical achievements on ethical views. One of the important topics in the Transcendent Philosophy that can create an evolution in ethics as a demonstrative product is the trans-substantial motion. Motion in substance has had several consequences most of which have been explored in the field of philosophy. One of them has been rendering the theory of "the corporeal origination and spiritual subsistence of the soul" into a demonstrative one. This, in return, will be of noteworthy effects on ethical discussions. In this regard, we can refer to the changeability of Man's morality, the confirmation of realism in ethics and its propositions, the clarification of the stages of the perfection of the soul, the demonstration of the immortality of the soul, and the justification of the embodiment of acts in the Hereafter. A study of this issue, in addition to strengthening its intellectual dimension in ethics, leads to its increasing influence on improving people's individual and social behavior in line with religious laws.
Key Terms
ethics trans-substantial motion
the soul corporeal origination
Mulla Sadra
Human Identity in Mulla Sadra's Philosophy
Personal identity is one of the important and complex issues in the field of the philosophy of the soul. It is also related to the philosophy of ethics and metaphysics in different respects and has given rise to some problems in these two areas. The justification of ethical responsibility and man's eternity in the posthumous state have attracted psychologist-philosophers' attention to the significance and necessity of explaining personal identity. This paper examines the issue from the view point of Mulla Sadra. Here, the writer initially refers to some of the most important contemporary theories about personal identity which can generally be divided into two reductionist and non-reductionist branches. Reductionists intend to reduce the human identity to elements such as memory, biological specifications, or continuous psychological states, while non-reductionists are against this. Mulla Sadra's theory in this regard is not in conformity with any of the above theories; however, it is more consistent with the non-reductionist approach from certain aspects. Though relying on the fundamental ontological and psychological principles of his own philosophy, Mulla Sadra tries to present a picture of human identity that, while depending on human nature, reveals personal identity, too. This is an identity in whose process of formation the three elements of habits, intentions, and acts play major roles. The extent of the consistency of these three elements with rationality is the reason behind having people with different identities. It should also be added that no human being enjoys a single and fixed identity; rather, identity is a continuous reality that, while being one, is a plural truth.
Key Terms
human identity personal identity
Mulla Sara habits
intentions acts
Mulla Sadra's Critical View of Peripatetics' Definition of the Soul
The problem of the soul is one of the important philosophical problems that has attracted the attention of thinkers since ancient times. Therefore, various opinions have been put forward regarding its nature and existence during the history of human thought. Apparently, Aristotle was the first philosopher to provide a clear definition of the soul. Among Muslim Peripatetics, following Aristotle, Ibn Sina defined the soul as the first perfection for the natural organic body and, through analyzing its specific features, tried to remove the short comings of Aristotle's view. Through influencing the Aristotelian definition by his religious attitude and insight and acknowledging the immateriality of the soul from the beginning of its creation, Ibn Sina presents a view of the soul which is to some extent close to that of Plato and the theory of the duality of the soul and body.
Like Ibn Sina, Mulla Sadra apparently accepts the Aristotelian definition of the soul; however, given the fundamental principles dominating his Transcendent Philosophy, his comprehensive view, and inter-disciplinary approach, he defines the nature and reality of the soul in a way that, in addition to removing all the ambiguities and defects involved in the Peripatetics' definition, leads to some other basic consequences and differences in the domain of the problems related to the knowledge of the soul.
Key Terms
definition of the soul Aristotle
Ibn Sina Mulla Sadra
Fuzzy Thought in Sadrian Philosophy
Nowadays, in modern logical discussions reference is made to a new logic called fuzzy logic. This field was introduced under this name by Professor Lotf'alizadeh to the world. Fuzzy logic criticized classical Aristotelian logic because here, when describing the realities, Aristotle draws a distinct line between "zero and one" and "black and white". However, according to fuzzy logic the external world is like a graded continuum, thus, in order to know about it, instead of speaking of "A or non-A", we must speak of "A and non-A" so that the different cases between zero and one or the gray areas between black and white are not ignored either.
If we cast a glance at Sadrian philosophy, we will witness some elements such as gradation in the objective world, the trans-substantial motion, and also some ambiguous fuzzy collections that lead the Transcendent Philosophy towards fuzzy philosophy. However, Mulla Sadra's philosophy, rather than merely following a fuzzy approach, is a fuzzy philosophy in which elements such as Man, the world, and the relationship between God and the world have been portrayed in a fuzzy form. The creation of human beings has been initially corporeal and its continuity in the form of a trans-substantial motion until reaching the level of rationality and even leaving the soulish state is a good example of a fuzzy and continuum-like design of a picture in Sadrian anthropology. The fuzzy Transcendent Philosophy, while acknowledging its differences from the modern fuzzy logic, is very useful for attaining a true knowledge of Man and reality.
Key Terms
fuzzy logic
fuzzy thought
Sadrian fuzzy philosophy
Demonstrating Mulla Sadra's Theory of the Principiality of Existence based on the Theories of Immanuel Kant and Max Black
Almost all philosophers consider Kant as the founder of a view based on which "existence" is not a real predicate. Max Black is also one of the famous analytic philosophers most of whom believe that "existence" can only be the quantifier of particular (ontological) propositions; therefore, it cannot function as their predicate. As a result, existence cannot be predicated on objects and individuals. In order words, it can never be considered as one of the characteristics of people and things. However, this paper intends to demonstrate in its first and second parts that two of the mental tests that these two philosophers have designed, namely, the distinction between the real Caesar and the possible Caesar (Kant) and the assumption of two completely similar and, at the same time, different globes (Max Black), can be formulated as two arguments for the theory of the principiality of existence. These two intellectual tests also testify to this view of Mulla Sadra that this theory is so evidently true that it is, although in a crude and unconscious form, the mental basis and ontological presupposition of those philosophers whose philosophical ideas are not apparently much consistent with this theory. The last part of this paper briefly deals with the relationship between existence and quiddity based on the theory of the principiality of existence and provides answers to some of the objections advanced against it.
Key Terms
Max Black Mulla Sadra
principiality of existence principiality of quiddity
possible existence real existence
identity criterion for individuation
Assessment of Suhrawardi's Discussions on the Principiality of Existence and Quiddity
Upon the introduction of the theory of the principiality of existence and mentally-positedness of quiddity by Mulla Sadra to the field of thought, the world of Islamic wisdom was so much impressed that thinkers in the field of philosophy tried to interpret and justify even the thoughts and ideas of early philosophers in terms of this theory. Suhrawardi, one of the most distinguished Muslim philosophers, was no exception in this regard. There have been numerous views as to whether he advocated the principiality of quiddity, light, or existence. Some maintain that he was an advocate of the principiality of quiddity, and some argue that he was a proponent of the principiality of light.
Nevertheless, none of the above theories is in complete conformity to his discussions. Therefore, considering the point that at the time of Suhrawardi, the problem of principiality was not as prevalent as it was in Mulla Sadra's time, the question is whether Suhrawardi's principles are more consistent with the principiality of existence or the principiality of quiddity? His words about light can be compared to and matched with similar discussions in the Transcendent Philosophy on existence and demand some analysis. On the other hand, he has also propounded some ideas concerning existence. Through paying attention to them and searching for similar cases in Mulla Sadra's words, on can grasp a clearer view of the quality and quantity of this conformity. Moreover, Shaykh al-Ishraq has some ideas that refer to the principiality of quiddity, such as believing in the mentally-posited nature of existence and the madeness of quiddity. The writers of this paper have deliberated over these ideas and tried to examine and analyze their different dimensions. Finally, they conclude that Suhrawardi's ideas are more consistent with the principiality of existence.
Key Terms
Suhrawardi light
existence principiality of quiddity
principiality of existence