Ma`rifat Falsafi

This article focuses on reexamining Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi's view of "Divine Proximity" using a descriptive-analytical method, with an approach aimed at evaluating new critiques of this theory. Some of the recent critiques raised against this view include: the unjustified removal of concepts of essence from ethical statements and their restriction to secondary philosophical intelligibles, failure to distinguish between Ilzam (obligation) and Luzum (necessity), and consequently, the problem of the theory's inadequacy in addressing the obligation towards the ultimate goal, which concerns the logical aspect of the theory. In the epistemological dimension, one of the main critiques is the consideration of certain ethical propositions as analytical, while in the ontological dimension, failure to recognize the self-love as the origin of moral tendencies and the inadequacy of defining divine proximity as the ultimate perfection, due to the inability to measure the true perfection of humanity in the light of it, are among the most significant critiques. A reexamination of Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi's view shows that, contrary to the critic's perception, the so-called inadequate and incomplete aspects are actually strengths of the theory under discussion. However, in some cases, due to ambiguity, certain apparent contradictions and uncertainties are felt, which this article goes to elaborate on.