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"If we know the Philosophy of education, any kind of training will be philosophical." The 13th Conference on Commemorating the Well-Known Iranian Philosopher, Mulla Sadra, was held on “Philosophical Training and the Philosophy of Education.”
This Conference which is held every year on the Mulla Sadra Day by the Sadra Islamic Philosophy Institute is a good time for masters of philosophy and wisdom to present their papers to the lovers of philosophy, training, and education and interested university students. A number of prominent Iranian university professors participated in this Conference and presented their speeches on educational-philosophical subjects such as the foundations of the philosophy of education and training, the right of education and training in Mulla Sadra’s view, and the bases and principles of education and training in the Transcendent Philosophy. From among them, we can refer to Dr. Ali Shari’atmadari, Dr. Gholamreza A’awani, Dr. Karim Mujtahidi, Dr. Reza Dawani Ardakani, Dr. Mustafa Muhaqqiq Damad, Dr. Seyyed Sadr al-Din Tahiri, and Dr. Gholamhossein Ibrahimi Dinani. In the inauguration program of the Conference, like previous years, the President of the Sadra Islamic Philosophy Institute, Professor Seyyed Muhammed Khamenei, while emphasizing the role of philosophy in education and the role of philosophical training in creating righteous and good citizens, said, “Philosophy is the only science talking about the collection of being and absolute perfection. It provides such training that the world of being (the macrocosm) is included in man. In this case, as its mother, man leads the world towards its destination. Professor Khamenei also reminded that non-philosophical methods of training are not comprehensive and are, in fact, a part of perfection. Moreover, they are incapable of training people in proportion to the purpose for which they have been created, i.e. being the mirror and manifestation of God. Then he wondered if such training is nowadays offered to people in our society. In his final words, he maintained that the purpose of holding such Conferences is to encourage the government to present the true Islamic Philosophy, which is the same Transcendent Philosophy, to the Iranian society. After Professor’s Khamenei’s speech, Dr. Ali Shari’atmadari, the member of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, started his speech. He criticized the educational problems and methods of teaching in the educational and training system of the country and said, “Teaching must be in conformity with individual differences, and students must be active in the process of learning. In another part of his words, he referred to some practical strategies for the actualization of these two purposes and explained them. Following the words of the previous speakers, Dr. Gholamreza A’awani defined wisdom and elaborated on its place and importance. Then he added that the only way to solve the present educational problems is to resort to wisdom and philosophy. He stated, “Attaining wisdom is a spiritual birth, i.e. reaching secondary fitrah (primordial nature) and attaining growth and perfection. Wisdom is the perfection of religion and good tidings that God has given to prophets. The next speaker was Dr. Karim Mujtahidi, Professor at Tehran University. He maintained that tradition and philosophical training are related to each other and added, “Tradition is a means for consolidating future life. Those nations that have lost their traditions have no share of the future. He also stated, “According to Socrates, like a mother’s milk, traditions are the main essence of the firmness and life of a society and nation, and it is in the heart of traditions that life becomes meaningful.” Dr. Mujtahidi reminded that, in such conditions, Mulla Sadra’s work is useful and modern because he has created a kind of cohesion in culture which, in a sense, is the same as traditions. He has brought different cultural parts into harmony with each other and, in order to protect traditions, added certain issues to the collection of gnosis and philosophy existing before him. Dr. Reza Ardakani, the President of the Academy of Sciences, was one of the other speakers of this Conference who started his speech with the background of training and its being human-specific. He said, “Human beings need to live in a human society and enjoy human training. Given these conditions, the function of philosophy is to clarify problems such as the following: Who is man? Where is he? What does he do? What can he do and what must he do? He also added, “Philosophy determines the philosophy, techniques, and ways of human growth and perfection from birth until death. It also reveals the general design of the world and explains how its order and stability must be protected. Training consolidates this order.” Dr. Mustafa Muhaqqiq Damad, the member of the Academy of Sciences and Professor at Shahid Beheshti University, devoted his speech to the right of education and training in Mulla Sadra’s view. He posed a question in the framework of Mulla Sadra’s school of philosophy as follows: “Is education and training, as indicated in the 26th Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one of human rights or not?” In other words, is any organ, group, or individual responsible to protect and grant this right to others? If so, who bears this responsibility? In response, he himself confirmed the existence of this right and said, “Having education and training is not only a right, but also, in Mulla Sadra’s view, the human identity. Intellection is the essence of human beings, and the responsibility of granting this right to them is on the shoulders of the rulers of societies. Following him, Dr. Seyyed Sadr al-Din Tahiri, Professor at ‘Allamah Tabataba’i University discussed Mulla Sadra’s theory of corporeal resurrection and its educational effects. After explaining this great philosopher’s two theories on the affirmation of corporeal resurrection, he continued, “This form of belief in resurrection makes man more attentive of his acts and their effects and plays a great role in human-making and individual training.
Later Dr. Fereshteh Nadri Abyaneh, Faculty Member al Bu Ali University, reviewed the theoretical and practical types of wisdom in Peripatetic philosophy. Finally, Dr. Gholamhossein Ibrahimi Dinani, Professor of philosophy at Tehran University, with a general view of the theme of the Conference (Philosophical Training and the Philosophy of Education), dealt with the Transcendent Philosophy, the mode of its denomination, and philosophy in the general sense of the word.
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