Existence, Annexation, and Derivation: A Study of Mir Damad's Theory on Being Existent and Derivation
In his books of al-Qabasat and al-Ufuq al-mobin, Mir Damad has presented two arguments against the annexed nature of existence. In this paper, the writer deals with two questions regarding these arguments. The first is whether Mir Damad's arguments have a historical background, and the second is whether their consequences support his theory on the derivation of "existent". Here, the first question is answered briefly by presenting two of the most famous arguments of philosophers and mutikallimun (particularly, Suhrawardi's famous argument and that of the commentator of Maqasid). Next, the writer provides some reasons indicating that not only are Mir Damad's arguments different from them but they are also logically and polemically superior to them. Nevertheless, a complete response is given to the second question by arguing that if we take one of Mir Damad's theories of existence (non-precedence of existence to the object) for granted, the non-annexed nature of existence would result in the non-derivation of the "existent".
Key Terms: existence, existent, quiddity, annexation, semantic derivation
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An Analytic Study of Mulla Sadra's Responses to the Questions of Khwajah Nasir al-Din Tusi and Mulla Muzaffar Hossein Kashani about the Subsistence of the Soul
The subsistence of the soul after its parting with the body is one of the most challenging problems in the field of philosophy. This problem has been discussed by both philosophers who consider the soul to be pre-eternal and immaterial and philosophers who believe in the spiritual origination of the soul, and both groups have adduced various arguments in this regard. Khwajah Nasir al-Din Tusi, who is a Peripatetic philosopher, has posed the following question: Why, in the view of philosophers, are the body and bodily preparedness concomitant at the beginning of the origination of the soul but not at the stage of subsistence and separation? He has probed the response to this question in a treatise which he wrote about the subsistence of the soul. At the same time, he asked this question from his contemporary philosopher, Shams al-Din Khusrawshahi, but he did not receive a response. Mulla Muzaffar Hossein Kashani, who was contemporary with Mulla Sadra, asked him the same question, since it seems that the problem of the subsistence of the soul is apparently inconsistent with Mulla Sadra's theory of corporeal origination. He provided a response to the question of Khwajah Nasir al-Din Tusi and Mulla Muzaffar on the basis of the fundamental principles of his own philosophy and defended the problem of the subsistence of the soul after its separation from the body.
Key Terms: soul, subsistence of the soul, corporeal origination of the soul, Khwajah Nasir al-Din Tusi, Mulla Muzaffar Hossein Kashani, Mulla Sadra
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Methodology of T'awil in the View of Fayd Kashani with an Emphasis on the Role of Ontology
Nafiseh Ahle Sarmady; Assistant Professor, Islamic Philosophy and Kalam Department, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
In Fayd Kashani's view, t'awil (esoteric interpretation) is a strategy for attaining the innermost and depth of meaning. He believes that denying t'awil is a sign of superficiality. His writings, particularly his two books of 'Ayn al-yaqin and Usul al-m'arif and his Mizan al-qiyamah treatise, testify to the supreme place of ontology in discovering the secrets of religious teachings. Fayd's research in the field of t'awil is based on his philosophical-gnostic thoughts. He conceives of ontology as a window through which one should view the vast spread of revealed teachings. The writer believes that the treatise of al-Insaf introduces Fayd's methodology of t'awil. Moreover, it describes the process of the writer's journey towards the truth. According to this gnostic philosopher, some of the conditions that are necessary for one's attaining the knowledge of t'awil include recognizance of theoretical and practical wisdom, spiritual perfection, patience, and truth seeking.
Key Terms: t'awil, ontology, innermost, patience, anthropology, Fayd Kashani
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Impact of Qur'anic Teachings on Suhrawardi's Illuminationist Philosophy
Obviously, all Islamic philosophers, affiliated with any of the three well-known philosophical schools, have been greatly influenced by Qur'anic teachings in the development of their philosophical thoughts. However, among them, Suhrawardi was the first Islamic philosopher who benefitted extensively from the Holy Qur'an in the development of his Illuminationist philosophy. His use of this heavenly Book is different from that of others both quantitatively and qualitatively (in terms of interpretation). He based many of his ideas, arguments, and judgments on the teachings of the Qur'an. Here, the authors have tried to briefly explain the impact of Qur'anic teachings on Suhrawardi's Illuminationist philosophy with regard to the four categories of luminous wisdom, light of all lights, intellects, and the soul. This is because a detailed discussion of this topic demands sufficient time and extensive knowledge.
Key Terms: Qur'anic verses, Illuminationist philosophy, luminous wisdom, light of all lights, soul, intellects, esoteric interpretation, Suhrawardi
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Place of Certainty in Five Arts in Farabi's View
Farabi attends to certainty in all the five-fold arts of logic in some way. Certainty is either essential or direct in an argument, while it is either accidental or indirect in other arts. In the art of dialectics, the well-known propositions for presenting dialectical affirmations are employed in order to attain certain knowledge. In the art of sermon, certainty is emphasized in the form of satisfactory affirmation in proportion to the addressee's level of perception and as the framework of sermon-related activities and the criterion for quality control. In the art of poetry, imaginal matters are related to certainty in terms of concept and judgment. Fallacy is also related to certainty through using pseudo-propositions, such as pseudo-certainties in two positive and negative dimensions. Therefore, the place of certainty in each of the dialectical, rhetorical, poetic, and fallacious structures is of great significance, and one can observe an instrumental relationship between these four arts and the argument.
Key Terms: five arts, certainty, indemonstrables, persuasive matters, imagianal matters, Farabi
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Shared Model of the Body-Centered Arguments of the Immateriality of the Soul in Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra
Some Islamic philosophers, such as Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra, have dealt with the characteristics of the soul, including the demonstration of its immateriality, in their anthropological discussions. A study of the works of these two philosophers indicates that the positive arguments of the immateriality of the soul are all based on the negation of the characteristics of the body and bodily matter. In other words, they denote that the soul lacks bodily features and, hence, demonstrates that it is immaterial. For example, bodily matter enjoys quantity, position, change, divisibility, and finitude of acts; it is vulnerable to weakness, aging, and tiredness. Moreover, the knowledge of the body and its acts is of the acquired type and is conditioned by place and position. These two philosophers demonstrate the immateriality of the soul by negating and denying the above characteristics to it. Thus the knowledge of the soul and demonstration of its immaterial nature would be impossible without the knowledge of the body and disallowing any bodily features for it. In this paper, in addition to revising the arguments of the demonstration of the immateriality of the soul and determining the key place of the body therein, it has been tried to design and provide a general model entailing all such arguments.
Key Terms: body, Ibn Sina, Mulla Sadra, immateriality of the soul, matter, soul
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The Relationship between Poetry and Logic in Ibn Sina
In the view of Muslim philosophers, the art of poetry not only enjoys a logical nature in Islamic philosophy but also constitutes the basis of the philosophy of art. One of the important questions in the realms of poetry and logic addresses the reason for exploring poetry as a part of the nine-part logic and then abandoning it in two-part logics and being content with a minimum study of this art by Ibn Sina under the title of imaginal matters (mukhayyalat). Ibn Sina does not follow a consistent process in this regard in his various works and gradually leaves aside certain parts, including the art of poetry. This paper aims to investigate the methodological relationship between logic and poetry based on their definitions and, then, examine and clarify Ibn Sina's strategies for joining poetry to logic.
Key Terms: art of poetry, poetic syllogism, imitations, imaginal matters, logic, Ibn Sina