List of Articles Sophia

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  1 - Epistemological Place of Phronesis and its Importance in Aristotle’s Philosophy of Ethics
  Ali Nazemi Ardakani Reza Davari Ardakani Malek Hosseini
  Phronesis or practical wisdom is one of the intellectual virtues which Aristotle has defined as a predisposition for continuously becoming involved in practice while thinking wisely about good and evil affairs. The outcome of this predisposition or phronetic act is the More

  Phronesis or practical wisdom is one of the intellectual virtues which Aristotle has defined as a predisposition for continuously becoming involved in practice while thinking wisely about good and evil affairs. The outcome of this predisposition or phronetic act is the product of a kind of philosophical thinking which, in addition to viewing certain established principles, attends to madīna (polis) as a cradle for the development of acts; to finite, particular, and changing affairs as the subject of knowledge, and to Man as a free agent. The irregularity and, at the same time, legitimacy of phronesis provides individuals with a strategy not to surrender to fixed and strict scientific laws as the only legitimate tools of knowledge acquisition. Through making a methodological distinction between sophia or theoretical wisdom and phronesis, Aristotle has in fact founded the independence and irreducibility of practico-ethical knowledge about what is correct; practical deliberation cannot be reduced to logical arguments. In Aristotle’s ethical philosophy, accidental knowledge, as the knowledge of finite, particular, possible, and changing affairs, is a complement to essential knowledge, which pertains to pre-eternal and universal affairs and primal and fixed basic principles. Sophia and phronesis can lead to happiness only in case they function as the two sides of the same coin. Manuscript profile
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  2 - Priority of Sophia to Phronesis and its Significance in Aristotle’s Philosophy of Ethics
  Ali Nazemi Ardakani Reza Davari Ardakani Malek Hosseini
  The relationship between phronesis or practical wisdom and Sophia or theoretical wisdom and, at another level, the relationship between ethical virtues and intellectual virtues are among the important subjects in Aristotle’s philosophy of ethics. Their importance is due More

  The relationship between phronesis or practical wisdom and Sophia or theoretical wisdom and, at another level, the relationship between ethical virtues and intellectual virtues are among the important subjects in Aristotle’s philosophy of ethics. Their importance is due to the fact that not only in case of the priority of phronesis to sophia, contradiction will arise between Aristotle’s teachings in Metaphysics and Nichomachean Ethics, but also because it seems that such a priority will eventually lead to a kind of diversion from prime philosophy and, hence, considering human being as the noblest subject in philosophy. Of course, Aristotle himself disagrees with this position. This paper mainly inquires whether in Aristotle’s philosophy priority belongs to sophia or phronesis, and what the significance and consequences of the priority of one over the other is. The authors argue that, although phronesis has a supreme place in his philosophy, it is sophia which enjoys fundamental priority. On the other hand, in Aristotle’s system of thought, eudaimonia or the highest human good cannot be attained unless through possessing phronesis and Sophia at the same time. Hence, it seems that, in order to learn about the ultimate goal of philosophy, it is necessary to further deliberate over the concepts of sophia and phronesis and their relationships with each other and with other virtues. Manuscript profile
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  3 - Value of Philosophia Prima in Kant and ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī
  Armin Mansouri Abbas Izadpanah
  20.1001.1.20089589.1400.11.4.6.5
  The present study investigates the scientific value of philosophia prima from the epistemological perspectives of Kant and ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī. As a philosopher whose standpoints were under the influence of other sciences and, due to the conditions of his time, he sided More

  The present study investigates the scientific value of philosophia prima from the epistemological perspectives of Kant and ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī. As a philosopher whose standpoints were under the influence of other sciences and, due to the conditions of his time, he sided with both empiricism and rationalism, Kant tried to solve the conflicts between these two schools relying on apriori synthetic propositions. Finally, he argued that, firstly, knowledge is acquired through sense perception and, secondly, it is limited to phenomena. Hence, he concluded that, while metaphysics cannot be denied, the existence of scientific propositions of philosophia prima are not epistemologically possible. Nevertheless, based on the ideas that, apart from sensible knowledge, pure rational knowledge can also be demonstrated, and that knowledge includes not only phenomenon but also essence, ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī believed that philosophia prima enjoys epistemological value in terms of its demonstrative method, subject, and problems. He places it on the top of all human sciences and considers all of its propositions and achievement to be certain and scientific. Manuscript profile
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  4 - The Relationship Between Sophia and Ṣūfī in Ancient Texts and Sources Based on Bīrūnī’s Narrative
  Hojjatullah  Askarizadeh
  20.1001.1.20089589.1401.13.3.1.8
  This paper concerns the narrative by Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī, the prominent scientist of the world of Islam, of the unity between Sophia and Ṣūfī as an introduction to the discussion of the truth of wisdom and philosophy in ancient texts. Most modern researchers do not see More

  This paper concerns the narrative by Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī, the prominent scientist of the world of Islam, of the unity between Sophia and Ṣūfī as an introduction to the discussion of the truth of wisdom and philosophy in ancient texts. Most modern researchers do not see any relationship between Ṣūfī and the Greek Sophia and believe that Ṣūfī is lexically related to such words as wool and woolen garments. In fact, they deny the relationship of Greek philosophy and Sophia with Sufism and Ṣūfī. Here, the author has tried to explore the origin of philosophy and wisdom of ancient Greece based on ancient sources in order to view Greek Sophia from another perspective. This study mainly begins with the relationship between Greek Sophia and Ṣūfī based on al-Bīrūnī’s narrative; however, its main purpose is to speak of the truth of philosophy and wisdom and their origin based on ancient texts. Such sources establish a specific connection between the distinguished philosopher of various ethnic groups in Iran, Greece, and India, as well as between gnostics and Ṣūfīs. Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī’s words concerning the relationship between Sophia and Ṣūfī provide a number of solid proofs in this regard in ancient texts and sources. The root of the unity of Greek Sophia and Ṣūfī in the Islamic world goes beyond the history of post-Islam Sufism. It should be, in fact, sought in the historical development of wisdom originating in the philosophical thoughts of ancient Greece, Iran, and India, the views and beliefs of Harranian, the Magi, Zoroastrians, and Sabians, and their relationship with the divine prophets. Manuscript profile