History of Philasophy: 56 (4)

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1 - Editor's Note
Hossein Kalbasi Ashtari

20.1001.1.20089589.1403.14.4.6.6

درباره چگونگی سیر و انتقال فلسفه و علوم یونانی به شرق و سرزمینهای اسلامی، پژوهشهایی مفصّل، اعم از دانش&zwnj;نامه&zwnj;ها و تک&zwnj;نگاریها، نگاشته شده و میشود. از آنچه مربوط به انتقال علوم و دانشمندان از آتن به اسکندریه بوده، گزارشهایی نسبتاً دقیق در اختیار نسل حاضر More

درباره چگونگی سیر و انتقال فلسفه و علوم یونانی به شرق و سرزمینهای اسلامی، پژوهشهایی مفصّل، اعم از دانش&zwnj;نامه&zwnj;ها و تک&zwnj;نگاریها، نگاشته شده و میشود. از آنچه مربوط به انتقال علوم و دانشمندان از آتن به اسکندریه بوده، گزارشهایی نسبتاً دقیق در اختیار نسل حاضر قرار گرفته، اما از انتقال میراث علمی اسکندریه به سرزمینهای شرق، یعنی از اسکندریه تا حّران و نصیبین، و از آنجا به جندی شاپور و سپس بغداد و مرو و ری و دیگر مناطق و مراکز علمی سده&zwnj;های دوم تا پنجم هجری قمری، اطلاعاتی جامع در دست نیست. مشهور است که فیلسوفان مسلمان از خلال منشور نوافلاطونیان با فلسفۀ یونانی آشنا شدند و همین امر در شکلگیری فلسفۀ فارابی و ابن&zwnj;سینا بصورت تلاقی و پیوند دین با فلسفه و عقل با شریعت ظهور کرده است. بیتردید، این معنا از جهاتی چند قابل مناقشه است، از آنرو که گرچه نوافلاطونیان ـ بویژه اسکندرانیها ـ نسبت به اسلاف یونانی خود دغدغۀ بیشتری نسبت به دین و اخلاق و عرفان داشتند، و چهره&zwnj;های متأخر نوافلاطونی، از زمرۀ متألهان مسیحی قلمداد میشوند. اما از سویی دیگر، آنچه بعنوان دین (مثلاً) نزد فارابی میخوانیم و میبینیم، شباهت چندانی با دین مدنظر غربیها، حتی از نوع نوافلاطونی آن، ندارد؛ بویژه در مقولاتی چون وحی و نبوّت و رستاخیز و توحید. پس حتی با فرض اینکه الگوی فارابی و ابن&zwnj;سینا در پیوند میان عقل و وحی ـ&zwnj;یا دین و فلسفه&zwnj;ـ برگرفته از اسلاف نوافلاطونی آنها باشد، در جزئیات و مفردات، با پرسشها و مغایرتهای متعددی مواجه خواهیم شد، چنانکه در اخلاق و عرفان نیز این فاصله و تفاوت افزونتر میشود. Manuscript profile

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2 - An Analytic Evaluation of the Concept of Moral Certainty in Western Philosophy: A Historical Approach
Mohammad Saeid Abdollahi Mohsen Javadi Muhammad Legenhausen

20.1001.1.20089589.1403.14.4.5.5

<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roma More

<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Moral certainty is one of the functional concepts that has recently attracted the attention of some philosophers of ethics and epistemologists. During the last decades, philosophers have approached this concept from different angles; however, they have sometimes provided an incorrect and inaccurate concept of this term because of ignoring its origin and historical development and losing sight of the historical, religious, or legal context in which it might be used. Jean Gerson, the French scholar and educator, created the term “moral certainty” for an appropriate level of certainty. Later, Descartes defined it as a kind of certainty that is sufficient for organizing behavior and assisting people in solving life-related problems. On the other hand, John Locke included absolute certainty and moral certainty in the concept of his own “real certainty”. The concept of moral certainty has also undergone an interesting process of development in Christianity. In church law, the concept of moral certainty is used to describe the mental status of the judge when they should decide with certainty whether the accused is truly guilty or not. In this paper, after referring to the first applications of this concept in the history of Western philosophy in the course of a historical-philosophical research and a study of the development of the concept of moral philosophy in different periods, the authors demonstrate that the concept of certainty has been prone to many changes since the 14th century and its first use in Gerson’s works. They will also clarify the place of this philosophical term in today’s epistemology of ethics after its historical journey and presence in various disciplines, and how the Wittgensteinian approach to this concept has gained widespread acceptance during the recent decades after its introduction many centuries ago. Manuscript profile

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3 - Plato’s Symposium and its Background
Hamidreza Mahboobi Arani

20.1001.1.20089589.1403.14.4.1.1

<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roma More

<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Plato’s Symposium is an unparalleled philosophical-literary masterpiece, which demands a serious approach to rereading it because of its quality of expression, linguistic style, powerful narration and reasoning, and synthesis of mythology and philosophy, as well as dealing with certain important subjects such as love, immortality, and eternal happiness. The present paper aims to explore and elucidate some of the historical, cultural and social backgrounds of Symposium because any negligence in this regard will render the analysis of its content incomplete and inaccurate. In this study, the author initially deals with the tradition of symposium in ancient Greece, its formation, and the cultural changes it underwent over time. Then he investigates Plato’s approach in his other works as to the nature of symposium and his re-evaluation and re-formulation of this concept. This analysis reveals Plato’s extent of loyalty to his own criticisms of this tradition in the dialog of Symposium and provides a model for future symposia. Finally, reference is made to one of the most important themes in symposia, Eros, which plays the main role in symposia and functions as the link connecting other philosophical concepts in this dialog. In this section, while avoiding to delve into Plato’s extensive and accurate discussions regarding Eros in Symposium, the author has tried to describe the cultural and social context of Eros as perceived by Plato. Manuscript profile

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4 - Historical Development of the Meaning of Philosophy from Ancient Greece to Mullā Ṣadrā: A Study of the Role of Spiritual Practice in Explaining Mullā Ṣadrā’s Philosophy Based on Hadot’s Approach
Majeed Pirhoseinloo Tahereh Kamalizadeh Seyyed Mustafa Shahraeini

20.1001.1.20089589.1403.14.4.4.4

<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roma More

<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Pierre Hadot, the French Philosopher, considers ancient Greek philosophy as “a way of life”. He has no positive view of Scholastic Christian philosophies and believes that the rise of Christianity was the main reason behind the fall of philosophy from its main place as a way of life. Accordingly, he seriously questions the possibility of explaining and investigating Scholastic philosophies and their most important representatives, particularly Thomas Aquinas, and other religion-based-philosophies, such as Sadrian philosophy. The present paper explores the possibility of explaining Mullā Ṣadrā’s philosophy as a way of life based on Pierre Hadot’s approach to philosophy. Previously, in his study of Aquinas’ philosophy, Matthew Kruger stated that Hadot’s perception of Aquinas’ philosophy was incorrect and inaccurate while, if it is understood correctly, it is possible to explain it as a way of life based on Hadot’s approach to ancient Greek philosophy. Kruger has challenged Hadot’s view by resorting to some arguments such as Hadot’s incorrect perception of Aquinas’ philosophy and his disagreement with Thomasian tradition, Thomas’ attention to spiritual life, and presence of spiritual practice in his philosophy. In this paper, the authors initially present Kruger’s arguments and then, by providing some similar proofs from Mullā Ṣadrā’s works, try to elucidate the possibility of explaining Mullā Ṣadrā’s philosophy as a way of life based on Hadot’s approach. Following Kruger, they conclude that, at least regarding spiritual practices, which Hadot considers as one of the pillars of the theory of philosophy as a way of life, Mullā Ṣadrā’s philosophy can also be interpreted as a way of life. The novelty of this paper lies in the fact that it aims to demonstrate the possibility of such a research while being loyal to Hadot’s general theory, which was apparently considered to be a presupposition in the past. Manuscript profile

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5 - The Nature and Eternity of Human Soul in Descartes
Asieh Bistooni Mohammad Akvan Mahdi Najafi Afra

20.1001.1.20089589.1403.14.4.7.7

<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roma More

<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;">The soul is one of the most frequently used terms in Descartes’ philosophical works and one of the fundamental concepts employed in the structure of his philosophy. In fact, without considering the meaning and concept of the soul, one cannot perceive the essence of his philosophical system. He views the soul as an immaterial substance that is different from the body in the real sense of the word and can exist without the body. Descartes maintains that the soul is an essentially immaterial and decomposable substance that, after its destruction or the postmortem decomposition of the body, continues its life in the light of its essential immateriality bearing the memory of its union with the body. He has posed certain arguments on the immaterial nature of the human soul, such as the possibility of doubting the existence of bodies, the needlessness of the concept of the soul from corporal attributes, God’s power as to creating two elements with each one being clearly and distinctly perceivable, and the oneness and indecomposability of the soul. Accordingly, he believes in three substances of God, soul, and body in distinction from each other. He intends a true distinction when he refers to distinction of substances; however, this reference has become problematic for him, and he must clarify how two truly distinct substances can affect each other in unison. He has tried to resolve this problem by placing the vapor soul, the “pineal gland”, and the faculty of imagination as intermediaries or by establishing a kind of balance or even substantial unity between them. Nevertheless, the more he has tried to resolve the problem, the more he has been challenged. He has also presented two completely different standpoints regarding the eternity of the soul, which must be demonstrated based on rational and philosophical arguments. However, in his second stance, he introduces the mortality of the soul as a completely religious category and states that the eternity of the soul cannot be realized merely within the framework of the natural intellect and without seeking help from faith. Descartes has also been unsuccessful in this regard and failed to prove his claim. Manuscript profile

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6 - The Fundamental Analysis of Mullā Ṣadrā’s Arguments as an Approach in Demonstrating Corporeal Resurrection
Shamsollah Seraj Hosein Aminparast

20.1001.1.20089589.1403.14.4.2.2

Mullahsadra has used the distinct views of previous philosophers for proving physical resurrection. He has considered his point of view in line with religion and surprised by those who know the day of judgment as spiritual, their express opposite opinion with doomsda More

Mullahsadra has used the distinct views of previous philosophers for proving physical resurrection. He has considered his point of view in line with religion and surprised by those who know the day of judgment as spiritual, their express opposite opinion with doomsday bodies in the from of example body and have referred to the assembling from the graves and the blow of the soul by the angels. however, the involvement of some basic issues, such as the position of the religion, the inclusion of the differences between the world and the Hereafter, the kind of bonds of the soul with the afterlife bodies, and also the constitutive substance of the eternal bodies, has led to a dualism in his vision. Although he has distinguished the quality of hereafter life from the world, in the explanation the quality of the substance of Hellman's eternal body, he has inevitably likened the hell substance to this world. To compare the quality of the earthly body with the afterlife body, the mullah has used two terms of femininity and objectivity. In fact, he has generalized the soul to mentioned bodies. Although, he has considered his method for describing physical resurrection discursive and in conformance with religion, unlike his first claim, by including theosophical issues, he has given less importance to the mere rational aspects. Manuscript profile

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7 - An Evaluation of the Theories of Suhrawardī Versus the Mu‘tazilites on God’s Will
Mostafa Esfandiari Mohammad Mahdi Salami Rasool Padashpour

20.1001.1.20089589.1403.14.4.3.3

<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roma More

<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;">One of the attributes and perfections of God is Will, a correct perception of which, similar to other attributes, can lead to the perfection of the knower. Although all Muslim phosphors attribute this Will to God, the quality of this attribution has always created some clash of ideas. Most Mu‘tazilite mutikallimūn negate God’s affirmative attributes, including will, to essence and consider them to be additional to it. They maintain that the Divine Essence is the vicegerent for attributes. Among pre-Suhrawardī philosophers, some interpret the free will as the knowledge of the higher order, and some others have referred it to the attribute of knowledge to clarify its meaning. As a result, these two attributes are in unity with each other in terms of concept and referents. Regarding Suhrawardī, some believe that he denies the free will, while a study of the fundamental principles of his philosophical system reveals that the opposite holds true. From among such principles, reference can be made to the gracefulness of the light of all lights (nūr al-anwār), identity of Divine Attributes with Essence, and the light of all lights as the sum of all perfections. According to these principles, all the perfections at lower levels exist in the highest level in a more complete and nobler form. The attribute of will is also an existential perfection, the demonstration of which leads to honor and eminence, and the denial of which leads to the negation of perfection. Hence, given the general content of Shurawardī’s philosophy, he must have necessarily agreed with attributing will to Almighty God. Regarding the inclusiveness of will, the Mu‘tazilites do not view Man as possessing the necessary will, while Suhrawardī considers the attributes of the light of all lights to belong to all existents, including Man in the light of introducing the light of all lights as an all-inclusive truth. Manuscript profile

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