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Open Access Article

1 - Historical Development and Pre-Suppositions of the Theory of the Principiality of Existence in Tusi’s Analysis
Hashem Ghorbani

The theory of the principiality of existence or quiddity lacks a systematic model in pre-Sadrian thoughts; however, it is based on certain presuppositions the discovery of which can illuminate Muslim thinkers’ approach to this problem. Khwajah Nasir al-Din Tusi has expl More

The theory of the principiality of existence or quiddity lacks a systematic model in pre-Sadrian thoughts; however, it is based on certain presuppositions the discovery of which can illuminate Muslim thinkers’ approach to this problem. Khwajah Nasir al-Din Tusi has explained his epistemological ideas regarding these presuppositions. This paper deals with some of the presuppositions underlying the principiality of existence or quiddity as presented by Tusi. Some of them are as follows: 1) the problem of the addition of existence and quiddity and its quality; 2) detecting the relationship between existence and quiddity; 3) the mind or the outside as the place of the realization of this relationship, and 4) evaluating the referents of the mentioned analysis and the realization of quiddity and existence in the outside or emphasizing the exclusive realization of one of them. Through his analyses of each of these presuppositions, Tusi adopts an approach which can represent his agreement or disagreement with the principiality of existence. Accordingly, although the theory of the principiality of existence did not occupy his mind as a problem, his epistemological presuppositions regarding existence and quiddity are consistent with it. The development of the relationship between the ideas of Tusi and Mulla Sadra can be analyzed through explaining the former’s standpoints regarding the above-mentioned presuppositions and his influence over Mulla Sadra. Manuscript profile

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2 - Objectivity and Representativeness of Propositions in the Practical Philosophies of Kant and Mulla Sadra
Hossein Qasemi

Kant, the modern philosopher, believes that the development of Man’s moral life depends on designing a moral system the principles of which are based on reason and objectivity. In this way, it would be free from any kind of subjectivity and personal bias, which damaged More

Kant, the modern philosopher, believes that the development of Man’s moral life depends on designing a moral system the principles of which are based on reason and objectivity. In this way, it would be free from any kind of subjectivity and personal bias, which damaged the moral system of his period. The only proposition which enjoys these features is the categorical imperative. Now, the problem is how Kant justifies the objectivity and truth of this imperative. Another question is how this problem is answered in Mulla Sadra’s Islamic philosophy. In his Critique of Practical Reason, Kant maintains that practical matters are rooted in the moral law and tries to justify them by resorting to practical reason and the notion of freedom. Although Kant’s discussions in the field of philosophy of ethics proceed in a way to demonstrate nomena and, particularly, freedom, he considers them to be among axioms. This means that the reality of practical reason and freedom only justify the practical possibility of moral experience and other practical fields. In other words, admitting the reality of the intellect and freedom is merely based on belief and faith, consequently, moral propositions are rational rather than cognitional. In Mulla Sadra’s Transcendent Philosophy, practical propositions in individual and social fields are developed based on practical reason while attending to its relationship with theoretical reason. Moreover, the realms of both theory and practice stem from the innermost of the soul and are known through presential knowledge. As a result, all mental and rational perceptions are related to the truth of the good and its grades as an ontological affair. In this way, the objectivity and truth of these propositions are justified not based on certain axioms but by resorting to the possibility of the presential knowledge of the world of fact-itself. In this paper, the writer has tried to discuss the truth and objectivity of propositions in practical philosophy through employing a comparative method and the analysis of the philosophical principles of Kant and Mulla Sadra in order to highlight the importance of the principles of the Transcendent Philosophy. Manuscript profile

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3 - Substance in Modern Empiricism
Alireza Javanmardi Adib Mohammad Akvan

The epistemological approach to Empiricism in the Modern era is opposed to the rationalist approach of Descartes and his followers, who believed in the existence of certain innate ideas prior to experience in Man’s mind. The thinkers advocating this approach explored ra More

The epistemological approach to Empiricism in the Modern era is opposed to the rationalist approach of Descartes and his followers, who believed in the existence of certain innate ideas prior to experience in Man’s mind. The thinkers advocating this approach explored rationalists’ metaphysical problems through denying innate ideas and considering sense experience as the source of knowledge. The results of such investigations had nothing to say, even at their peak, about substance except when trying to deny it. Accordingly, given the process of the development of empiricism by the pioneers of this approach and its consequences, the authors of this paper have tried to deal with the following basic question: After accepting the specific reading of some empiricists such as Locke, Berkeley, and Hume from the process of attaining knowledge, would it be possible to accept the existence of substance? Here, the writers respond that, based on their studies of the above thinkers’ views of substance, the acceptance of substance is not consistent with empiricism. This is because substance is a meta-empirical entity which sense experience cannot grasp. What follows sense experience in the end is nothing but a collection of impressions which can never explain the existence of substance. Manuscript profile

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4 - Ethical Doctrines in Aristotle and Ibn Miskawayh Razi
Ali Mohammad Sajedi Hajar Darayitabar

Different schools of ethics have presented different doctrines in the field of ethics. Ethical doctrines include the premises, criteria, and referents of ethical acts. The differences between schools of ethics in their doctrines are rooted in their philosophical princip More

Different schools of ethics have presented different doctrines in the field of ethics. Ethical doctrines include the premises, criteria, and referents of ethical acts. The differences between schools of ethics in their doctrines are rooted in their philosophical principles. The ethical schools of both Ibn Miskawayh and Aristotle are virtualistic. Ibn Miskawayh believes that the most important prerequisites for ethical acts are self-knowledge, education, and training. Both thinkers explain the criteria for ethical acts relying on the principles of free will, intellect, moderation, and religious laws and analyze their referents based on elements of virtue, joy, friendship, etc. However, given the different worldviews of these two philosophers, their ideas of any of the ethical elements and referents are also different. Unlike Aristotle, Ibn Miskawayh attaches great importance to Islamic laws in relation to his ethical views. Moreover, he is able to provide a more successful model of ethical doctrines based on his monotheistic worldview. Influenced by religious teachings, he also believes that religious training plays an influential and efficient role in ethical growth and development. This paper is intended to explore ethical doctrines by comparing the ideas of these two philosophers. Manuscript profile

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5 - The Effects of Philosophical Trends on Teaching Philosophy in Schools in the Safavid Era
Musa al-Riza Bakhshi Ostad

Not the same level of attention was paid to philosophy in schools in different periods of the Safavid era, and there were some ups and downs in this regard under the influence of the various philosophical and scientific trends dominating the society of that time. This p More

Not the same level of attention was paid to philosophy in schools in different periods of the Safavid era, and there were some ups and downs in this regard under the influence of the various philosophical and scientific trends dominating the society of that time. This paper examines the process of teaching philosophy in schools in two halves of the Safavid era based on historical sources while employing a descriptive-analytic method. During the first half of this era, because of the dominance of rationalism over schools, philosophy, alongside religious sciences, was the focus of great attention, as it was in the pre-Safavid era. We can observe the peak of its growth in the middle of the Safavid era in the philosophical School of Isfahan. However, in the second half of this era, particularly during its last decades, with the revival of the Akhbari school of thought or the school of the people of hadith, the teaching of the Shi‘ite traditions and hadith became prevalent in schools, and the teaching of philosophy in schools was very limited and suffered huge decline. For example, in some schools such as “Sultani” and “Maryam Beigum” in Isfahan they banned the teaching and learning of philosophy and placed it in the list of subversive sciences. Manuscript profile

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6 - A Comprehensive Critical-Comparative Analysis of Tusi’s Works on Ethics
Fereshteh Abolhassani Niaraki

This paper presents a critical-comparative analysis of Tusi’s writings on ethics. Research on various dimensions of his ethical theory requires a comprehensive knowledge of his works. Therefore, prior to any study of his works on ethics, it is necessary to critically an More

This paper presents a critical-comparative analysis of Tusi’s writings on ethics. Research on various dimensions of his ethical theory requires a comprehensive knowledge of his works. Therefore, prior to any study of his works on ethics, it is necessary to critically analyze them and compare them with each other. Moreover, it is also a must to identify Tusi’s contribution to research on ethics among his written works. It is not possible to provide an extensive report of all of his works in various fields in this paper; therefore, the writer has contented herself with referring to those books, treatises, and articles that he exclusively wrote on ethics including some scattered discussions of this field. Moreover, because of the importance of Tusi’s independent works on ethics, the writer has also referred to the date of each work, the purpose behind writing it, the approach of the work, the structure, method, and references used in writing it, its publication status, its place in the history of ethical works, its bibliography, the ethical school it represents, and its Table of Contents following an analytic-critical approach. This paper also examines the relationship between Tusi’s ethical writings, particularly his three important works including Akhlaq-e Muhtashami, Akhlaq-e Nasiri, and Awsaf al-ashraf. Manuscript profile

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7 - Aristotelian Model of Defining Science
Mehdi Nazemi Ardakani Hamed Mustafawi Fard

Thematic distinction is the oldest method of distinguishing sciences from each other, so that some believe that it is the only method used for this purpose. Taftazani and Lahiji claim that mutikallimun are unanimous that different sciences can be essentially distinguish More

Thematic distinction is the oldest method of distinguishing sciences from each other, so that some believe that it is the only method used for this purpose. Taftazani and Lahiji claim that mutikallimun are unanimous that different sciences can be essentially distinguished from each other based on their subject matters. Accordingly, they believe that the distinctions among sciences arise from the distinctions among their subjects, and by attaining aspects, they mean the aspects of the subject’s preparedness for accepting the predicate. However, in a more accurate sense, philosophers argue that, in the field of exact and demonstrative sciences, what consolidates the unity of a science is its subject matter. In the same way, ‘Allamah Tabataba’i explicitly states that the distinction criterion for exact and demonstrative sciences in their subject, and for mentally-posited sciences it is their end and purpose. In contrast, in the view of the critics of the model of “thematic distinction of sciences”, research findings indicate that sciences consist of a few propositions that have been completed over time. Therefore, their subjects were not even known to their founders and, that is why they were not capable of discussing their states. They argue that, even if we accept the Aristotelian model, we should say that many of the debates regarding the distinctions among sciences originate in confusing exact and mentally-posited sciences with each other and generalizing the principles of exact sciences to mentally-posited ones. Manuscript profile

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8 - Theorem of Eternal Recurrence in Suhrawardi’s Philosophy and Poincaré’s Physics
Mehdi ‘Azimi

“Eternal recurrence” is an old theorem in the history of philosophy stating that any event in the world will recur in future in a self-similar form an infinite number of times as it has recurred an infinite number of times previously. Suhrawardi discusses this theorem i More

“Eternal recurrence” is an old theorem in the history of philosophy stating that any event in the world will recur in future in a self-similar form an infinite number of times as it has recurred an infinite number of times previously. Suhrawardi discusses this theorem in his Hikmat al-ishraq and al-Mashari‘ wa al-mutarihat and adduces some arguments in order to demonstrate it. In his T‘aliqat written on Qutb al-Din Shirazi’s commentary on Hikmat al-ishraq, Mulla Sadra evaluates Suhrawardi’s argument and deems them unfounded. However, the falsity of the argument does not indicate the falsity of the claim, particularly, because we have Poincaré’s “proposition of recurrence” before us demonstrating that, in any system, the initial states of all component parts of a whole will recur after the passage of a sufficiently long time. This idea necessitates the demonstration of the theorem of “eternal recurrence”. Nevertheless, one must ask how long this sufficiently “long time” is. Based on the calculations of Chandrasekhar, for a spherical volume of air with a radius of one centimeter at a standard point of temperature and pressure, with one percent of fluctuation in density around the mean, this time is equal to 3 trillion years! Therefore, the time of the recurrence of the whole universe is so long that the life of its components will come to an end long before that time. This will make the recurrence of the universe impossible. Therefore, this paper concludes that the theorem of “eternal recurrence”, which Suhrawardi also believes in, is essentially possible but practically impossible. Manuscript profile

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9 - Specific Unity or Plurality of Man in Ibn Sina, Suhrawardi, and Mulla Sadra
‘Abdullah Salavati

The specific unity or plurality of man is one of the problems that has often remained a marginal one and taken for granted as a presupposition in traditional philosophy. In the past, most Muslim philosophers defended the specific unity of man. However, the opponents of More

The specific unity or plurality of man is one of the problems that has often remained a marginal one and taken for granted as a presupposition in traditional philosophy. In the past, most Muslim philosophers defended the specific unity of man. However, the opponents of this idea posed the specific plurality of man using a demonstrative method. Of course, in the works of some of the advocates of the specific unity of man, such as Ibn Sina, there are some pieces of evidence attesting to this theory. This paper discusses and examines the curve of the evolution of the specific plurality and inequality of man with reference to some prominent and influential thinkers such as Ibn Sina, Suhrawardi, and Mulla Sadra. This curve has undergone some fluctuations in the philosophical and kalami schools of the world of Islam. Nevertheless, the process of its development entails the following theories: specific plurality of man at the level of evidence by Ibn Sina, graded specific unity (unequal equal human beings) by Suhrawardi, and three models of purely ontological and graded specific unity, the quiddative graded specific unity seeking ontological graded specific unity, and quiddative graded specific plurality seeking ontological graded specific unity by Mulla Sadra. It is noted that each of the three-fold Sadrian models exists in two apriori and aposteriori forms. The Sadrian specific plurality, because of its relying on solid supporting principles, having a variety of models, and entailing apriori and aposteriori forms of specific plurality, created a transformed atmosphere of inequality of human beings. In order to demonstrate the substantial difference between this type of plurality and the specific plurality of human beings before Mulla Sadra, the writer has referred to the former as human life-specific model. Manuscript profile

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10 - Historical Roots of the Concept and Referent of Prime Matter and the First Emanated in Greek Philosophy
ali haghi Abbas Javareshkian Hossein Bulkhari Ghahi

Undoubtedly, the history of philosophy follows a continuous and successive process of development in the course of human life. Although inventions and new problems and topics have always been witnessed and warmly welcomed in this field, they have never interrupted the c More

Undoubtedly, the history of philosophy follows a continuous and successive process of development in the course of human life. Although inventions and new problems and topics have always been witnessed and warmly welcomed in this field, they have never interrupted the continuous process of development of thought in the realm of philosophy. In fact, philosophy, which is the most illuminating dimension of human intellection on the history of thoughts, is responsible for the rational explanation of the most important issues in human life. Undoubtedly, one of the most important of all of them is clarifying the relationship between the Creator or Maker of the world and existents and creatures. Now, if we consider the rise of philosophy in Greece as a crucial event in the history of philosophy, the quality of the philosophical approach to prime matter and, then, the issue of the first emanated are viewed as two of the most significant and fascinating topics in this field. Following an analytic approach, the writers have tried to study the historical background of the first emanated in the history of Islamic philosophy (intellect as the first creation) with reference to Greek philosophy in this regard. The writers assume that the history of philosophy in Islamic civilization has been developed by deliberating over some Greek thoughts and has established the foundation of its own philosophical structure through a profound review of philosophical resources, such as the Qur’an and traditions, as the absolute center of this enterprise. Manuscript profile

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11 - Qadi Kamal al-Din Hossein Ibn Mo‘in al-Din Meybodi: Life, Character, Views
Alireza Javanmardi Adib Maghsoud Mohammadi

Hossein Ibn Mo‘in al-Din Meybodi, nicknamed Kamal al-Din, known as Qadi, with Mantiqi as his pen-name, is one of the great figures and distinguished scientific, literary, and philosophical characters of the land of Iran. He was born in Meybod in Yazd Province in the nin More

Hossein Ibn Mo‘in al-Din Meybodi, nicknamed Kamal al-Din, known as Qadi, with Mantiqi as his pen-name, is one of the great figures and distinguished scientific, literary, and philosophical characters of the land of Iran. He was born in Meybod in Yazd Province in the ninth century (AH). After learning the common preliminary intellectual and transmitted sciences of his time, he went to Shiraz in his youth and became a student of Dawani. Meybodi is a Muslim philosopher, an advocate of Shafi‘i school of thought, and a man of Tawalla (loving the People of the Prophet’s House). His love of the Commander of the Faithful (a) and the Pure and Infallible Household is so profound that some have considered him to be a Shi‘ite scholar. During the reign of Sultan Y‘aqub Aq Qoyunlu, he was a judge and the custodian of endowments of Yazd and its suburbs. His most important works include Sharh-i hidayah al-hikmah, Sharh-i diwan mansub bi Amir al-mu’minin (a), and Munsha’at. During the reign of Shah Isma‘il Safavi, when Mohammad Karra (ruler of Abarqu) captured the city of Yazd, Meybodi became his minister and, between 909 and 911 AH, when Shah Isma‘il recaptured Yazd, he was murdered on the King’s order. Meybodi believed that Illuminationists and Sufis (gnostics) were superior to theologians and Peripatetics and considered Peripatetic philosophy, which is based on rational deduction and reasoning, an immensely uncertain and ambiguous school which exhausts the intellect in the process of perceiving its fundamental principles. Unlike Ibn Sina, Suhrawardi, and Ibn Arabi, he was not the founder of a specific school of philosophy. However, given his accurate criticisms, investigations, and particular views regarding topics which interested theologians, Peripatetics, gnostics, and Illuminationists in the mould of a number of independent and dependent (commentaries and glosses) works, as a connecting link, he managed not only to play a significant role in developing Islamic philosophy and bringing the different philosophical trends and schools of his time together, but also become a source of inspiration for Mulla Sadra in developing the Transcendent Philosophy. Manuscript profile

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12 - Historical Development of Approaches to the Problem of Essential Accidents: From Mulla Sadra to Muhaqqiq Rashti
Moosa Malayeri

The present paper deals with one of the most important and complicated epistemological problems targeted by Muslim philosophers, that is, determining the referents and realm of essential accidents. The main question here is whether accidents are considered to be essenti More

The present paper deals with one of the most important and complicated epistemological problems targeted by Muslim philosophers, that is, determining the referents and realm of essential accidents. The main question here is whether accidents are considered to be essential through the more particular. In this historical study, the writer examines the development of the various theories regarding this problem over three centuries (1050-1312 AH) and then reports and evaluates the solutions suggested by four of the most prominent theoreticians of this historical period. To this end, he initially explores Mulla Sadra’s solution, which is based on the necessity of distinguishing between particular accidents and accidents through the more particular. Then he discusses the view of Hossein Khwansari, who, after criticizing Mulla Sadra’s theory and acknowledging its weakness in solving the problem, presents his own theory of juristic preference and consensus in determining territories and setting boundaries between sciences. Later the writer deals with the views of Mulla Mehdi Naraqi, who accepts a part of Mulla Sadra’s theory but solves some parts of the problem using a different method. Naraqi’s method necessitates the screening of sciences and extracting some problems from the domains of related sciences. Finally, the writer focuses on the last character of this period, Mirza Habibullah Rashti. He was a capable fundamentalist who enriched this discussion more than ever before in the light of his own profound insight and increased the accuracy of the technical language used to describe the problem. Although he benefitted from the words of other thinkers, he did not accept the solution of any of the preceding philosophers in its totality. He believed that the scholars working in each field are allowed to discuss the related scientific problems within the borderlines of their own knowledge as long as no specific sciences have been devised for investigating them. This view, as explained in the body of the paper, is quite compatible with the apriori-historical approach to the development of various disciplines. Manuscript profile

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13 - Historical Development of the Concept of Hyle (Matter) in the Works of Muslim Thinkers
Mahmoud Hedayatafza Mohammad Javad Rezaeirah

As generally acknowledged, the term “hyle” in Peripatetic philosophy has been derived from Aristotle’s views on matter and form or potency and act. Although this term has been defined as “matter lacking actuality and enjoying pure potency” in Islamic philosophy, a study More

As generally acknowledged, the term “hyle” in Peripatetic philosophy has been derived from Aristotle’s views on matter and form or potency and act. Although this term has been defined as “matter lacking actuality and enjoying pure potency” in Islamic philosophy, a study of the works of Muslim thinkers reveals that, because of the integration of some philosophical views with gnostic ideas as well as the influence of Islamic teachings, this term has undergone different semantic changes. As a result, in some schools of philosophy, it has been consciously employed to refer to actual affairs. Below, the writers have provided eight meanings for “hyle”, which are listed in their chronological order of formulation: 1. Matter lacking any kind of actuality and enjoying pure potency, as accepted by Peripatetic philosophers and equivalent to its Aristotelian concept. 2. The fourth level of being, for the Isma‘ilite, which is posterior to the soul and prior to nature. 3. Pure substantial continuity, in some of Suhrawardi’s works, which, along with accidental quantity, constitutes the truth of body. 4. Matter inclusive of all possible worlds and an otherworldly expression of simple existence in the view of some gnostics. 5. One of the modes of form in line with Mulla Sadra’s view of the unitary integration of matter and form. 6. An equivalent to possible existence or created thing’s divine aspect (Face of God) in the view of Shaykh Ihsa’ei. 7. An expansion of the Aristotelian concept of prime hyle under the title of the dark nature of essence in Tafkik (separation) School. 8. An application of the matter of world to the element of water based on the religious texts of Tafkik School of thought. Manuscript profile

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14 - Cosmology of Muhammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi
Iraj Nikseresht Rasool Jafarian Abdullah Farrahi

In his search for the essence of being, following an aprioristic approach, Razi believed in the five-fold substances of Necessary Being (Creator), rational soul, hyle (matter), absolute time (perpetual duration), and absolute place (vacuum). When explaining the process More

In his search for the essence of being, following an aprioristic approach, Razi believed in the five-fold substances of Necessary Being (Creator), rational soul, hyle (matter), absolute time (perpetual duration), and absolute place (vacuum). When explaining the process of creation through the four pre-eternal things alongside God, he justified the role of God’s Will in the process of creation by highlighting the role of the soul’s ignorance in its tendency for matter. He also demonstrated that the world was created at God’s will and not by nature. In his view, it is only Man who can liberate the soul from the pains and calamities of matter through the mediation of the intellect and lead it towards happiness and salvation. However, the difference is that the soul will not have any desire for matter. Razi believed in the possibility of corruption and change in bodies and, as a result, in the world of creation, even if the bodies are of an earthly or heavenly nature. He maintained that bodies consist of hyle and vacuum and emphasized that substances enjoy volume and are pre-eternal. Accordingly, he agreed that particles are infinite in number and composite in nature and disagreed with creation out of nothing. In his view, the qualities of four-fold elements and heavenly spheres, such as lightness and heaviness, brightness and darkness, and softness and hardness, depend on the mass and number of the vacuum-like components that penetrated the substances of hyle. At the same time, Razi acknowledged the centrality and immobility of the Earth and believed that heaven and, following it, the Sun, and other stars have a spinning motion through the balance of the components of the hyle and the vacuum within them. He considered the world to have been originated and agreed with the possibility of existence of other worlds. Finally, Razi explained vacuum and plenum in the mould of the concept of an infinite universal place which is independent of the world and also introduced beyond this place as space. Manuscript profile

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15 - Kierkegaard and the Origin of Existentialist Religious Theorems
Fatemeh Mohammad Mohammad Akvan

The present paper explains the view of Kierkegaard, the prominent founding philosopher of existentialism, regarding religious teachings. Kierkegaard refers to three aesthetic, ethical, and religious spheres for human beings and maintains that there is a large distance b More

The present paper explains the view of Kierkegaard, the prominent founding philosopher of existentialism, regarding religious teachings. Kierkegaard refers to three aesthetic, ethical, and religious spheres for human beings and maintains that there is a large distance between the aesthetic and religious stages. Accordingly, in order to explain the process of development in these spheres, he uses such words as “pathos” and “leap of faith”. Kierkegaard’s discontinuous dialectics, when moving from one stage to the other, reveals that, firstly, these three-fold spheres can never unite with each other even if they co-exist for some time. Finally, there comes a time when, inevitably, one has to be chosen. Secondly, the quality of moving from one stage to the other is not logical and cannot be explained within a specific framework. When confronting the problem of religious faith, Kierkegaard does not allocate any place to the intellect and thought. In other words, he does not specify a certain time, place, and method so that individuals know when, where, and how they can reach the next stage. Rather, he believes that one must take risks in this process, do miracles, and follow the way without resorting to the intellect. Such risks cause a leap from the ethical sphere to the religious sphere, which is the highest level of an original life or existence; a leap which does not fit the framework of rational principles and, hence, cannot be perceived. Kierkegaard dedicates all his efforts in his works to demonstrating that the two spheres of religious belief and intellect are not only different but also in contrast to each other and, thus, one cannot evaluate religious concepts against the criterion of the intellect. Manuscript profile

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16 - Development of the Theory of Categories from Aristotle to Ibn Sina
Reza Rasuli Sharabiyani

Aristotle’s view of categories is not a merely linguistic one. His four-fold division of existents and referring to the features of being in the subject and being told in terms of the subject alongside each other indicate his ontological view of categories. In his eyes, More

Aristotle’s view of categories is not a merely linguistic one. His four-fold division of existents and referring to the features of being in the subject and being told in terms of the subject alongside each other indicate his ontological view of categories. In his eyes, they are the windows linking subject and object to each other. He poses the issue of categories to bring thought and reality together. Therefore, the goal of the laws of Aristotelian logic, in addition to analyzing the forms of thinking, is to explain the knowledge of reality as it is reflected in the human mind. The discussion of categories in Aristotle’s logical works functions as a window to the entrance of essentialism in logic and the dominance of Aristotelian metaphysics on his logic. This aspect weakens Aristotle’s logic in presenting and analyzing many propositions and syllogisms and makes the semantic aspect of this logic more prominent in comparison to its formal aspect. The theory of categories existed in logic books before Ibn Sina. In several cases in the book of categories of al-Shifa, he mentions that there is no place for the discussion of categories in logic and puts it aside in the logic section of al-Isharat. Unlike Aristotle, Ibn Sina’s heedlessness of categories can reveal formalization in logic and its deviation from Aristotle’s essentialism and semanticism. Manuscript profile

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17 - Editor's Notes
Hossein Kalbasi Ashtari

Student's Thesis Research on Basically Problems

Student's Thesis Research on Basically Problems Manuscript profile

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18 - A Historical Glance at the Move from Self-Knowledge to Knowledge of God in Peripatetic and Illuminationist Philosophies
Seyyed Mohammed Kazem Alavi

The development and consequences of self-knowledge is one of the important discussions in Islamic philosophy. One of the most noteworthy of these consequences, according to the hadith of “One who has self-knowledge verily knows God”, is to know the Creator. The explanat More

The development and consequences of self-knowledge is one of the important discussions in Islamic philosophy. One of the most noteworthy of these consequences, according to the hadith of “One who has self-knowledge verily knows God”, is to know the Creator. The explanation and interpretation of this hadith was not taken seriously in earlier schools of Islamic philosophy. In fact, it was not until the early periods of the Schools of Shiraz and Isfahan up to the period of the dominance of the Transcendent Philosophy among contemporary thinkers that great attention was devoted to clarifying and interpreting it. This paper is intended to discuss the background of these explanations and analyses in two of the early schools of Islamic philosophy, Peripatetic and Illuminationist philosophies, and even in those preceding them. The interpretation of the hadiths on self-knowledge in Islamic philosophy is united with psychology. That is why its background is traceable to Greek philosophy. In books on Islamic philosophy, some ideas and words have been attributed in this regard to Greek early philosophers, who are considered to mark the beginning of writing the history of this issue. The narration of these hadiths and similar words began during the first periods of Islamic philosophy with Ikhwan al-Safa (Brethren of Purity). They mainly focused on the importance of self-knowledge and the immateriality of the soul, which is more prominent in the Peripatetic philosophy considering the significance of psychology and self-knowledge in this school. Through relying on these hadiths, Ibn Sina demonstrated the most important problem of self-knowledge, that is, the immateriality of the soul, and uses it as a religious confirmation of this point versus the view of mutikallimun as to the corporeality of the soul. In Illuminationist philosophy, given the fundamental status of the dimension of the epistemology of the soul, a more basic approach to the relationship between self-knowledge and the knowledge of God is observed. This approach is introduced as an argument in order to demonstrate the existence of God and His attributes; it is an argument which is indeed superior to other arguments. What is clearly witnessed in this historical process is an interpretation referring to the possibility of self-knowledge and the possibility of the move from that knowledge to the knowledge of God, which is considered to be gradational in its most Illuminationist explanation. Manuscript profile

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19 - The Belief in the Other World in Pre-Historic Iran (A Philosophical Analysis based on Archeological Proofs)
Atousa Moemeni

Following the growth of human sciences, archeology, as one of the materialist and spiritual branches of human sciences, has recently been seeking to learn about the quality of the formation, continuity, and change of early societies. It has been doing so on the basis of More

Following the growth of human sciences, archeology, as one of the materialist and spiritual branches of human sciences, has recently been seeking to learn about the quality of the formation, continuity, and change of early societies. It has been doing so on the basis of tangible and intangible proofs and through investigating the development of thoughts, cultures, traditions, and beliefs of such societies. Moreover, archeologists aim to perceive this process of change and development alongside rational and logical findings in relation to human worldviews as an everlasting treasure which has lingered since pre-history until now. Death and its life-related and ontological dimensions in different cultures and societies have always been among the most fundamental problems attracting the attention of human beings all over the world. In fact, humans are essentially living beings who are always thinking about death and have continually kept their connection with this concept in the course of history. Archeological proofs represent the most tangible legacy of death-related thoughts and demonstrate people’s attention and sensitivity to death, which are themselves rooted in their philosophy of the other world. In the present paper, the author has tried to deal with the philosophy of death and Man’s thanatoptic nature during the second and first millennia BC based on some archeological diggings in an Iron Age cemetery (which represents a specific age and a region with a rich ancient history and culture). She has also sought to particularly study burial traditions and their changes along with their underlying ideological foundations. In this way, with references to certain archeological studies and discovered artifacts in field excavations, the author hopes to shed some light on Man’s awareness of death and their beliefs in relation to the world after death and analyze the transfer of such thoughts and all their evolving dimensions to the next generations based on rational and logical principles. Manuscript profile

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