Mahmoud Reza Moradian Articles List

List of Articles Mahmoud Reza Moradian

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1 - “Gradation of Word” as the Philosophy of Language in Suhrawardi’s Illuminationist Wisdom
Mahmoud Reza Moradian

The main question advanced in this paper is as follows: Which specific criterion is used to distinguish the problems of prime philosophy from each other. Another related question here is whether Islamic philosophers really employ this criterion or not. A review of the w More

The main question advanced in this paper is as follows: Which specific criterion is used to distinguish the problems of prime philosophy from each other. Another related question here is whether Islamic philosophers really employ this criterion or not. A review of the works of Greek philosophers, particularly Aristotle, indicates that Aristotle’s words regarding the subject of prime philosophy are diverse and divided. It also reveals that the problems of prime philosophy have not been inferred and formulated with reference to a specific subject in an organized manner. In spite of the entrance of Greek philosophy and all its concomitants into the world of Islam, Islamic philosophers, especially Ibn Sina, tried to explain the subject of prime philosophy and its problems, dissect the relationship between them, and provide a criterion for distinguishing philosophical problems from the problems of other sciences. They often considered the subject of prime philosophy to be existent qua existent and assumed that its problems include predicates which are deemed to be among the essential accidents of pure existents. Therefore, the main criterion for identifying the problems of prime philosophy and distinguishing them from each other was introduced as follows: the predicates of those problems had to be essential accidents for absolute existents. Nevertheless, in reality, these philosophers discussed some problems the predicates of which did not follow this rule. A study of the works of Aristotle and Islamic philosophers reveals that the secret of this ambiguity is hidden in an approach according to which they firstly divided theoretical sciences into three categories: natural sciences, mathematics, and prime philosophy. Then, in reality, they transferred the problems that could not be discussed in the other two sciences to the domain of prime philosophy while the equivalence of their predicates with essential accidents for existent qua existent were questionable. The present paper aims to analyze and explain the above claims in detail based on reliable documents and arguments and disclose the main reason behind the lack of conformity between the problems and the subject of prime philosophy in the history of Islamic philosophy. Manuscript profile
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2 - A Comparison of Farabi’s Logico-Linguistic Theories with the Principles and Theories of Contemporary Linguistics
Mahmoud Reza Moradian

The main purpose of the present article is to compare the logico-linguistic theories of Farabi with contemporary linguistic principles and theories. To this end, the writers initially review the history of the development of linguistics and its turning into an independe More

The main purpose of the present article is to compare the logico-linguistic theories of Farabi with contemporary linguistic principles and theories. To this end, the writers initially review the history of the development of linguistics and its turning into an independent discipline. Then they introduce the most common fields and theories in contemporary linguistics. Finally, they compare Farabi’s logico-linguistic theories with more recent linguistic concepts and theories. Ten centuries ago, Farabi referred to linguistics as one of the sciences of his time and introduced certain fields, principles, and theories for it which bear amazing similarity to contemporary linguistic theories from several aspects. Moreover, in the science of the laws of singular words, which is the third part of his seven-part science of language, he studies letters, sounds, and words as discussed in the phonology and morphology of today. In the science of compound words (fourth part of his language science), he examines the syntactic structure of sentences and their components. His theories in this regard bear a strange similarity to Chomsky’s phrase structure grammar. By distinguishing grammar or syntax from logic, Farabi established a relationship between them which could be illuminating to the philosophers, logicians, and grammarians following him concerning some of the theories of contemporary linguistics such as the theory of the universal grammar and its principles and parameters, the theory of the language acquisition device and its innateness, and the theory of surface and deep structures. His ideas about syntax and logic and their relationship is extremely innovative and useful, and some clear traces about certain modern theories such as the concept of the phonological surface structure and semantic deep structure of sentences and the theory of the innateness of language can be found therein. This paper explains Farabi’s theories and their relationship with modern linguistic theories in order to reveal some aspects of the genius, breadth of knowledge, academic certitude, and magnanimity of this prominent Iranian and Islamic scientist, philosopher, and linguist following a scientific method. Manuscript profile

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List of Articles Mahmoud Reza Moradian