Abstracts
Mullā sadrā’s Solution to the Problem of Subject-Object Dualism
Rizā Akbariān 1
Hossein Qāsemi 2
The problem of the relation between subject and object, and the criterion for truth, has been discussed in different philosophical schools. Plato explained realism on the basis of the world of ideas, the pre-existence of soul, and knowledge as remembering. Aristotle sought the unification of subject and object in “immaterial forms”. In the world of Islamic philosophy, a belief in the separation between existence and quiddity led to an emphasis on quiddity and the problem become more pressing. Ibn Sina solved the problem by putting the burden of guarantying the truth of knowledge on the shoulders of God and the Active Intellect.
The authors of is article try to show that Mulla Sadra has dealt with this issue is a different and more efficient way. He unifies subject and object of knowledge by a series of principles such as: principality of existence, gradation in the essence of existence, mental forms’ issuing subsistence to the soul, and intensifying movement of the soul. On the basis of these principles, he unites subject and object in the unitary objective reality of existence.
Keywords: Mental Existence, Realism, Subsistence of Issuing, Gradation of Existence, Active Intellect, Pure Forms, Essence of Existence.
Existential Gradation and Appraising Neo-Sadraians Disputes:
Allāmah Tabātabā’i, Ayatollah Mesbāh, and Ayatollah Javādi Āmoli
Qāsim Pūrhassan 3
Mahdi Qā’idsharaf 4
The concept of “existence”, and the way it is abstracted, is of great import for the theory of existential gradation in Hikmat Muta‘ālyah. Since “existence” is one of secondary intelligibles, it becomes important to know how it occurs and how it is predicated. The main question, then is: what it means to occur and being predicated? What is the situation of the concept of existence as a secondary intelligible? What difference it makes in the discussion of existential gradation if one considered its occurrence as subjective vis-à-vis objective?
This article reviews answers by Ayatollah Mesbah and Ayatollah Javadi Amoli to these questions, and examines how they put their marks on their approaches to the issue of existential gradation. The authors prefer arguing for the occurrence of secondary intelligibles by “the existence of the predicate” axiom, and believe that the argument from the concept of existence suffices for establishing gradation, and in this way, some disputes will end.
Keywords: Secondary Intelligibles, Concept, Existence, Gradation, Occurrence, Predicate, Neo-Sadraians, Javadi Amoli, Mesbah.
Ibn Sina’s Philosophical Explanation of Religious Experience
Ali Shirvani 5
This article is an explanatory and analytic review on Ibn Sina’s philosophical view of religious experience. It is an attempt to answer some important epistemological questions about religious experience from Ibn Sina’s viewpoint. The main reference in this inquiry is his al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat, in which he explains some of his distinctive ideas.
The most notable points in this article include the following: the root of hallucinations on the one hand, and that of true visions on the other, the reason why (and how) some true intuitions need interpretation, the process of such occasions while one is asleep or awake, the role of illness and artificial tricks, the role of piety and moral regeneration, and the gradation and hierarchical levels of such experiences, as well as the cause for the contextuality of some (and not all) pseudo-sensory experiences.
Keywords: Religious Experience, Ibn Sina, al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat, Knowledge of the Unseen, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Mysticism.
Theological Fatalism and its Solutions
Mohammad- sāleh Zāre‘pūr 6
Mohammad Sa‘idimehr 7
Sayed Mohammad Ali Hojjati 8
One version of theological fatalism argues from God’s infallible foreknowledge in favor of fatalism. Its proponents believe that since God infallibly knows, beforehand, all that a person will do; therefore, one cannot do anything other than the one that God already knows. They conclude that human actions are not intentional.
The authors in this article begin by explaining presumptions that almost all fatalists agree upon. Based on such assumptions, they try to come up with an argument as a basic argument for theological fatalism. And finally, they review the most important solutions and critiques of theological fatalism to map their places regarding the premises of such an argument.
Keywords: Theological Fatalism, Foreknowledge, Free Will, Intention, Necessity of the Past, Transfer of Necessity, Ockham, Molina.
A Critique of Gerald Edelman’s Ideas about Consciousness
Ali Sana’i 9
Azim Hamze’ian 10
Differentiating primary consciousness from superior one, Edelman explains the first by perceptual categorization and value-category memory, while explaining the latter by language. He explicates the connection between perceptions and the subject’s function by brain map as a phenomenological informational space. His idea leads to the rejection of modularity theory, the denial of the subject as a metaphysical entity, an instrumental approach to popular psychology, and a defense of scientific psychology. Edelman considers property dualism and explanatory gap to be pseudo-problems in the philosophy of mind without having right understanding of them.
The authors criticize him on his explanation of primary consciousness by memory, because memory has nothing for representing without mental experiences. Furthermore, a subject cannot be explained merely by brain map, because any mental space is in need of a meta-space, and the brain map will never exist.
Keywords: Edelman, Primary Consciousness, Superior Consciousness, Natural Selection, Neuronal Theory of Group Selection, Explanatory Gap.
A Glimpse at the Language Game of Feelings
Mohammad Ali Abdollahi 11
Fatemeh Farhanian 12
It is common place to consider feelings as private; but Wittgenstein disagrees. He believes such an idea leads to agnosticism and solipsism. According to the common understanding, feelings are private in two senses: 1. in an epistemological sense, which has two aspects: a) only an individual can know one’s own feelings; b) no one can know others’ feelings (Wittgenstein believes that the first aspect is meaningless and the second one is wrong). 2. The second sense is related to “having”, that is, each person has one’s own feelings; therefore, there are no similar feelings in two different persons (Wittgenstein insists that this sense is wrong too).
This article tries to show that Wittgenstein considers the privacy of feelings a merely grammatical subject, without designating a private matter. Of course, he thinks that feelings can be private as far as they remain secrete and have no external expression.
Keywords: Feelings, Private, Knowledge, Having, Grammar, Secret, Wittgenstein.
A Critique of Anthropological Foundations of
Eric Fromm’s Viewpoints
Ali Mesbah 13
Mohammad Ali Mohiti Ardakan 14
The foundations of the human sciences play an important role in the theoretical as well as the practical life of the human being. The way a scholar views the human being determines many aspects of the human sciences, such as its subject matter, its methodology, and its functions. On the other hand, one’s behavior, beliefs, and even attitudes are influenced and strengthened by such a view. This is why it is vital to appraise those foundations in any critique of theories in the human sciences.
This article tries to bring to light the anthropological foundations upon which Eric Fromm’s psychoanalytical theories are based. They are discussed in terms of humanism, the essence of humanity, alienation, human common nature, human and religion, and the perfect human being. These topics are finally compared and criticized on the basis of Islamic teachings.
Keywords: Anthropology, Humanism, Nature, Alienation, Common Nature, Eric Fromm.
1 Associate Professor, Tarbiat Modarres University: Received: 2010/12/31 Accepted: 2011/4/18
2 PhD Student of Philosophy, Tarbiat Modarres University: h.qasemi@yahoo.com
3 Assistant Professor, Allamah Tabataba’i University; Received: 2010/11/11 Accepted: 2011/4/8
4 PhD Student of Philosophy, Allamah Tabataba’i University: mahdighaedsharaf33@gmail.com
5 Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Theology, Hawzeh & University Research Center:
shirvani@rihu.ac.ir Received: 2011/2/18 Accepted: 2011/4/14
6 M.A Student of the Philosophy of Logic, Tarbiat Modarres University: zarepour@modares.ac.ir
7 Associate Professor, Tarbiat Modarres University: saeedimehr@yahoo.com Received: 2011/1/21
8 Associate Professor, Tarbiat Modarres University: hojatima@modares.ac.ir Accepted: 2011/4/7
9 Assistant Professor of Theology, Semnan University: sanaee@semnan.ac.ir
10 Assistant Professor of Theology, Semnan University. Received: 2011/1/11 Accepted: 2011/4/16
11 Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Tehran University at Qum:
Received: 2011/2/18 Accepted: 2011/4/14
12 M.A. in Philosophy, Tehran University in Qum: f.farhanian@gmail.com
13 Associate Professor of Philosophy, Imam Khomeini E.R.I., Received: 2011/1/29 Accepted: 2011/4/9
14 M.A. Student in Philosophy, Imam Khomeini E.R.I.: taebl1362@gmail.com
In the name of Allah
Ma‘rifat-i Falsafi Vol. 8, No. 3
A Quarterly Journal of Philosophical Inquiry Spring 2011
A publication by Imām Khomeini Institute for Education and Research
Editor in Chief: Ali Mesbah
Editor: Ri„ā Akbariān
Deputy Editor: Mahmūd Fath’ali
Coordinator: Rūhollāh Farīsābādi
Editorial Board:
Dr. Ahmad Ahmadi: Professor, Tehran University
Dr. Rizā Akbarīyān: Associate professor, Tarbīyat Mudarris University
Dr. Ghulām-Rizā A‘wāni: Professor, Shahid Beheshti University
Dr. Muhammad Fanā'i: Associate Professor, Imām Khomeini Inst. for Education and Research
Hoj. Ghulām-Rizā Fayyāzi: Professor, Imām Khomeini Inst. for Education and Research
Dr. Hussain Ghaffāri: Associate Professor, Tehran University
Hoj. Muhammad husainzādeh: Associate Prof., Imām Khomeini Inst. for Education and Research
Dr. Muhsin Javādi: Associate Professor, Qum University
Dr. Muhammad Legenhausen: Associate Professor, Imām Khomeini Inst. for Education and Research
Dr. Muhammad Sa‘īdi Mehr: Assistant Professor, Tarbīyat Mudarres University
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Ma‘rifat-i Falsafi is a quarterly journal of philosophical inquiry, dedicated to research in philosophy. This journal covers issues concerning the comparison, critique, and analysis of the foundations and ideas of Muslim philosophers, as well as the juxtaposition, scrutiny, and evaluation of theories articulated by Muslim and non-Muslim philosophers. Academically exploring novel and unprecedented issues in comparative philosophy is among the aims of this journal.
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Table of Contents
Editor’s Foreword
Mullā sadrā’s Solution to the Problem of Subject-Object Dualism
Ridā Akbariān and Hossein Qāsemi
Existential Gradation and Appraising Neo-Sadraians Disputes:
Allāmah Tabātabā’i, Ayatollah Mesbāh, and Ayatollah Javādi Āmoli
Qāsim Pūrhassan and Mahdi Qā’idsharaf
Ibn Sina’s Philosophical Explanation of Religious Experience
Ali Shirvani
Theological Fatalism and its Solutions
Mohammad- Sāleh Zāre‘pūr , Mohammad Sa‘idimehr, and Sayed Mohammad Ali Hojjati
A Critique of Gerald Edelman’s Ideas about Consciousness
Ali Sana’i and Azim Hamze’ian
A Glimpse at the Language Game of Feelings
Mohammad Ali Abdollahi and Fatemeh Farhanian
A Critique of Anthropological Foundations of Eric Fromm’s Viewpoints
Ali Mesbah and Mohammad Ali Mohiti Ardakan
