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One of the issues that have attracted the attention of scientists throughout history is the relationship between the components of the universe and the ontology derived from such thinking. Since ancient Greece, many physicists and philosophers have been exploring this issue, and the results of their research and understanding of the issue have generally influenced one another, so that the discovery of a problem has led to fundamental changes in the thinking of the other group. With the advent of new physics, a new vantage point in the ontology of the universe has been created, and compared to the past scholars have been writing differently on this topic. Teller is one of the scholars influenced by the new findings of physics and has attempted to refute the divisive view of classical physics and raised his own theory which is based on universal and relational holism. This article attempts to explain Teller's point of view mentioned in his own essay within the framework of Bell’s theory of “Relativity, Relational Holism and Inequality" and critique and evaluate it on the basis of the ontological principles of transcendent theosophy. The results of this study emphasize that the empirical method is partial and not suitable for proving the holism of matter. Rather, with general and philosophical principles such as the individual unity of being, the principle of causality, and the principal of self-existence, a more plausible reasoning can be achieved. Undoubtedly, such dialogues between philosophy and physics will pave the way for a better and more complete understanding of existence.
Journal of Philosophical Theological Research (17359791)(15-16)pp. 2-13
It mayseem thatin the world ofIslam and thecultureandreligion,"password"as a term,especiallyin therealm ofmysticismandisstrictlyreligious and mysticalaspects.Butintheearly stages ofthe development ofphilosophyin the Muslim world,Islamicphilosophersto"password"andtheevolution of theirattention,wasa certainphilosophicalfoundations.
Journal of Philosophical Theological Research (17359791)(17-18)pp. 29-40
Among the philosophical principles of causality, the famous rule "Wahid" which is compatible with the principle of cause and effect are interconnected. In the view of many philosophers, this principle has been granted, but the terms of the raising serious questions about its territory is facing, such as: principle conflicts with the agency and omnipotence, in ways Divine causality rule out that some of their inclusion. This article clarifies the principle and its territory, to bug the divine power and wisdom reply in this regard, critical analysis, and eventually to the conclusion that neither the rational allocation at the base of "Wahid" correct and limitations in power His divorced is permissible, therefore, no conflict between the provisions of principle and proofs of evidence means there is no divine agency.
Journal of Philosophical Theological Research (17359791)(25)pp. 60-87
Among the most complex philosophical issues is the value of knowledge, which determines the destiny of many other philosophical problems. In this regard, there are some serious questions such as, how much is the validity of human beings’ knowledge, how and in what is the veridicality of knowledge?
Among the contemporary philosophers, `Allāmah Tabātabā’ī has examined this important with further scrutiny and presented valuable discussions; referring all the acquired knowledge to the presential knowledge and considering the presential knowledge as basic, he firstly adopted a new approach in this domain and secondly attained an explanation of the errors of the senses. The present essay, analyzing `Allāmah Tabātabā’ī’s viewpoint on the value of knowledge, and emphasizing a number of its features, is going to present a more coherent assertion of it, possessing the least difficulties in regard to the veridicality of knowledge.
Journal of Philosophical Theological Research (17359791)(4)pp. 25-42
Some theologians in the process of explaining the creation of contingent world, in addition to non-existence in time, have denied the causal relationship between the creator and the created and explained their relation in terms of creative agent. On the contrary, many philosophers believe in the pre-existence of created beings and emphasize on the principle of causality and on the necessary creation and some of them believe that there must be a kind of cognation (ontological homogeneity) between the creator and the creatures. So in explaining the relation between the creatures and the creator three ideas have been offered in general: total difference, sameness, and cognation. The purpose of this article is to examine the necessity of cognation between the cause and the effect in Islamic philosophy. After analyzing and explaining the theory of cognation and examining its objections, the author has come to the conclusion that the necessity of cognation, according to philosophical ontology, is self-evident.
Journal of Philosophical Theological Research (17359791)(3-4)pp. 249-276
Oral or written presentation of religious principles of faith is an old tradition among Muslims. The aim of these letters of beliefs is to preserve and transfer the basic and common principles of every sect. However, they include some of the writer or narrator's personal views and beliefs which should not be confused with those common principles. The issues and discussions presented by a writer in his/her treatise show not only the basis of his religion but also his way of thinking, insight, nature and character. The present paper elaborate on, analyzes and compares Sheikh Baha'i' and Majlesi's letters of beliefs. In his treatise, Majlesi is more concerned with recommendation and prescription, and his imperative language likens his treatise to jurists' practical treatises. In contrast, Sheikh Baha'i' absolutely describes and explains his views and does not criticize or anathematizes the opponents. He allocates two third of his treatise to the explanation of practical issues of Islam, but Majlesi allocates most of his treatise to the explanation of the principles of faith and considers the explanation of preliminaries of acts and moral recommendations sufficient in terms of acts.
The knowledge of God or the knowledge of the Principle of Existence has been one of the main human concerns. In response to that concern, a major part of the doctrines of revealed religions has been dedicated to His description. As knowledge of the Divine Essence, however, is not possible according to rational and textual arguments, theosophers and theologians as well as the revealed doctrines limit the knowledge of God to the attributes realm, dividing the Divine attributes into two categories: the essential attributes and the active attributes. The essential attributes, taken from the perfect Divine Essence, have characteristics. Similarly, the active attributes, taken from the Divine Acts, have their own features.
The meaning and status of dreams in Philosophy is an issue discussed by most of the outstanding philosophers on their philosophical principles. From the Muslim theosophers’ viewpoint, the dream is a result of distancing the spirit from the external senses and approaching towards the internal powers. Sometimes human beings perceive the realities of existence as well as the future events through the realm of dreams and accordingly reach the intuitive knowledge. In his explanation of the veridical dream, Suhrawardi believes that the standpoint of the manifestation of images in dream is the soul while its main origins are the celestial souls. According to al-Farabi, dream is an idea created by imagination and its capacity increase due to separation from daytime activities during sleep. In his point of view, one can become united with the active intellect through imagination but that power is exclusive to the elected people. According to Ibn al-Arabi, the dream world is the world of symbols in which one must find the dream symbols in order to recognize the meaning of dreams. He treats the dream as the first origin of receiving the divine revelation for the people of blessing.
Journal of Philosophical Theological Research (17359791)(1)pp. 45-70
Qadi Abdul Jabbar Hamedani regards the followings as the conditions for prayer (du'a): having will, knowing the status of whom we are presenting our request, having no corrupt intentions in what is requested and being humble and submissive while praying. In his Mu'tazilite view, the philosophy of prayer is that it is a kind of grace (luṭf) as Allah orders us to pray and He never orders to evil. Prayer has different types including praying for others, cursing, praying for the believers, sinful people and the infidels, praying for good or evil and praying for the dead. According to Qadi Abdul Jabbar, praying for the dead is ineffective. Praying is sometimes obligatory. This obligation is either in terms of the object of prayer or the one who prays. Praying and requesting sustenance is effective because intellect and sacred law regard it as good and requesting good is good.
Journal of Philosophical Theological Research (17359791)(3)pp. 29-52
One of the most fundamental foundations of transcendent philosophy is gradation in existence which has been used as a basis for explanation and affirmation of several philosophical problems, and to which Mulla Sadra Shirazi owes many of his innovations in different philosophical fields. The problem of union of the knower and the known is one of his most important innovations in epistemology in which gradation has a basic role. Philosophers before Mulla Sadra regarded the amount of abstraction of known from material and its consequents as the criterion for the kinds of perception and the difference between perceptions as the result of difference in the amount of abstraction of essence from its contradictory affairs because they neglected the problem of gradation in existence. Rejecting the theory of Taqhshir (decortication or abstraction through which the mind eliminates redundancies to obtain the essence of perception or intellectual stage), however, Mulla Sadra believes that difference in perceptions is the result of difference in modes of abstract being. In transcendent philosophy, the criterion for being known is only justifiable on the basis of gradational system of existence. Accepting collective existence in gradational system of existence, he believes in modes of being in a longitudinal order for an essence, which necessitates another predication called "real and delicate predication". Accordingly, the criterion for being known is based on solidification of existence. The more intensive is existence in terms of actualization and realization the more is its being known, and the less intensive is existence in terms of actualization and realization the less is its being known; and the soul unites with any known in its very stage to perceive it.
Journal of Philosophical Theological Research (17359791)(3)pp. 5-24
In Mulla Sadra's philosophical system, human being enjoys a specific stance. He is the only contingent being with existential degrees corresponding and conforming to existential degrees and worlds. Mulla Sadra's environmental philosophy can be regarded as based on the principles and rules founding the system, including fundamentality and gradation of existence, particularly the principles of substantial motion and union of the knower and the known, as well as the stages of creation of soul and its relation with body. Such a philosophy can help us to provide ways to explain the relationship between man and nature, according to which environmental crises occurred to the nature can be managed. In the philosophical system of transcendent theosophy, nature is the manifestation and disclosure of a being continually influencing it in its creation and duration, endowed with knowledge, apprehension and consciousness according to its share in the being, and represents the hidden interior and exterior aspects of reality of existence. Therefore, man's interaction with nature as a living thing is totally different from that which is defined in environmental philosophy based on West's philosophy, which believes in an existential unity between man and nature. The present paper seeks to explain and analyze the meaning of man and nature in Mulla Sadra's philosophy and elaborate on their interrelation.
The meaning of the text and the anagogical interpretation of meaning in Sadra's school is affected by his views and principles. Hence, in his philosophy, the explanatory meanings are justifiable and logical. In Sadra's school, meaning, which is the outcome of the man's exposure to the universe, has an actual fact that a heavenly figure can explain it and determine it, and uses its capabilities to introduce the facts of different realms. Sadra's principles and views, including the fundamental reality of existence, the gradation of being, the rule of non-composite real, as well as Sadra's view on psychology, substantial motion and fixed Essences somehow impacts the logic of the meaning of the world of sense or the world of imagination and reason, and they can explain the ontological foundations of the anagogical interpretation of the text. This paper studies the impacts of the Sadra's principles and views on the meaning of the text, and it highlights some texts that have been analyzed by Sadra in this respect. Using a descriptive-analytical method, and while referring to Sadra's view regarding the anagogical interpretations, this paper shows the capability of Sadra's Philosophy in developing the meaning of text, and studies his logic in the anagogical interpretation from the aforementioned viewpoint. This paper seeks to illustrate the logic of Sadra's anagogical interpretations on the extracted meanings of the text.
Ghazali’s Paradoxical views: Abstract:Abu Hamed Mohammad Ghazali is one of those tinkers who through the vicissitudes of his life opposed different opinion; He challenged their acts and views of his predecessors and his contemporary for what he deems was appropriate for Muslims worldly life and their religious beliefs. In his works, he introduces criteria for dealing with the views of others: acceptable or unacceptable to us and invites everybody to follow them. This article aims to test Ghazali's adherence to these criteria and accomplishes this by comparing his approach to Philosophers and scientists on the one hand and Sufis on the other.
By comparing his attitude with the actions and thoughts of these three groups, it becomes clear that appropriate criteria such as open-mindedness, impartiality, protecting the lives of Muslims, avoiding groups’ bias and so on, has been paradoxically and dual articulated in his thinking and have been reflected on his works.
Abstract In Allameh Tabatabai's epistemology, human knowledge is based on beliefs that are certain, fixed, and compatible with reality. Since he considers the basis of human knowledge to be axioms, he is considered to be a maximal proponent of foundationalism and bases his theology on it. In his theology, God and His attributes are objective and real, and the human mind, by using the techniques of reasoning, can realize the truth of the divine realm to its fullest extent with certainty. Without resorting to figurative language, human language also has the ability to speak of the truth of God by using the literal meaning of words (denotation). In contrast, Brummer is considered a minimalist foundationalist and considers any proposition to be questionable. In his view, human knowledge of God is limited to His manifestations, and the human perceptual system is not able to discover the truth of the divine realm. To speak of God, the language of religion is more a figurative and prescriptive language than a real and narrative one, which does not reflect the truth but seeks meaning to life and expresses the devoutly religious lifestyles and the appropriate behavior of believers in relation to God. Therefore, Allameh Tabatabai's theology is based on certainty while Brummer's is intermingled with relativity.
. One of the challenges faced by philosophers throughout history of philosophical thoughts, has always been and is to find an adequate answer to the question of quiddity and existence of time and space. Thus, the present study aims to elaborate on the question of space and time in Mulla Sadra’s philosophy and its relationship with outcomes of modern physics. The study also intends to conduct an analytical comparison between these two views and clarify newer aspects of this complicated and vague question. According to principles of his thought system in his ontology and particularly his theory of substantial motion, Mulla Sadra’s view toward time has a closer concordance with findings of modern physicists like Albert Einstein. One of the most noticeable achievements of the present paper, considering ontological view of Mulla Sadra toward time, is to reach a comprehensive and vast view of the question of space and time covering space-time approach of theory of relativity and having the common issue of time in mind, develops an image of unity and connectivity of the world of nature with the four dimensions. The present study uses a documentary analysis research and uses library resources. The prominent works of Mulla Sadra and Einstein’ works on the Theory of Relativity were the main sources for this study. It is hoped that this view not only reveals further philosophical aspects of the issue of time but also help uncover newer approaches for physicists.
Numerous discoveries and experiments at the beginning of the twentieth century showed that classical physics was not enough to depict the true face of the natural world, and these shortcomings led to human thinking taking a new direction in physics. In the new view of physics, the view of the phenomena of existence is the view of the indivisible components and the action and reaction of a whole. On the other hand, in transcendent wisdom, according to Sadra's philosophical principles such as longitudinal and transverse skepticism, the existence of common time, etc., a system of the natural world has been described that is very similar to the new findings of physics. One of the greatest results of this exploration is that material objects are not distinct from each other, but are inextricably linked to their surroundings, and their properties are only in relation to their relation. Understandable with the whole world. These relationships extend to the distant distances of the vast universe and to distant stars and galaxies, and finally, by combining these two perspectives, the unity of the universe in the macroscopic world is revealed. Combining the new achievements of the natural sciences with philosophical thinking is a step forward in a better and more complete understanding of the natural world.
