Ma‘rifat-I falsafi, Vol. ١٠, No. ١ (Fall ٢٠١٢), pp. ١٦٧-١٩٨
Art and Beauty from the Point of View of Ayatollah Mesbah
Alireza Tajik
Seyyed Akbar Hoseini Qalehbahman
Beauty as one of the most deeply rooted natural wishes of human being, and art as the practical manifestation of his wish In the realm of human life, are two important categories in human investigations. Thus nowadays the philosophy of art and aesthetics are closely linked with religion, ethics, and most of other branches of humanities, etc. Furthermore, the inclusiveness of the range of the influence of art in individual as well as social life of human being in all ages, particularly in our age, doubles the necessity of basic and applied researches in this field. Studying the thoughts of Ayatollah Mesbah concerning beauty and art, the present article first deals with the meaning of art and fine arts, and then with the definition of beauty and its relation with art . Study of the position of form and matter (form and contents) in art has found its way into the fields of beauty. In addition, analysis of relativity in arts has led to raising the issue of “art and value” and researching into it.
Keywords: beauty, art, perfection, value, form, content, aesthetics, philosophy of art, Mohammad Taqi Mesbah
Ma‘rifat-I falsafi, Vol. ١٠, No. ١ (Fall ٢٠١٢), pp. ١٣٧-١٦٥
Do׳s and Don׳ts of the Islamization of Humanities from the Perspective of Allama Mesbah
Mohammadali Mohiti Ardekan
Ali Mesbah
Taking into account the weak points of the extant humanities on the one
hand and the strong points of Islamic humanities on the other, one
would find out that there is an undeniable necessity for discussing
Islamization of humanities. Thus recognizing and removing the obstacles
in this way, we should find some mechanisms towards Islamization of
humanities. According to Allama Mesbah, to create a development in
humanities, we should reconsider their foundations based on Islamic
teachings on the one hand, and benefitting the proper method, we should
emphasize the application of Islamic regulations and values in them.
Investigating into the works of Allama Mesbah, explaining humanities and
Religious humanities as two important keywords, and reviewing the weak
points of the extant humanities, the present article seeks to study the
necessity of Islamization of humanities and identify the obstacles as
well as the mechanisms towards Islamic humanities. The article ends with
general conditions of Islamization of different disciplines from the
perspective of Allama Mesbah.
Keywords: Allama Mesbah, islamization, humanities, do and don’t, religious knowledge, Islam
Ma‘rifat-I falsafi, Vol. ١٠, No. ١ (Fall ٢٠١٢), pp. ١١٣-١٣٦
An Overview of the History of Philosophy based on Holism and Universalism
Masoud Omid
Logic is one of the significant sources for understanding facts.
In addition to their formal function, categories and concepts dealt with
in logic can prepare a good foundation and framework towards better
understanding of facts based on their hermeneutic role. Resting on two
concepts of classic logic i. e. the universal and the whole, the present
article seeks to reach an understanding of the history of philosophy.
In other words, it is an attempt to investigate the history of
philosophy based on the two approaches of holism and universalism.
Taking special limitations of such a research into account, the present
article claims that it is possible to reach an acceptable understanding
of the features of history of philosophy based on these two approaches.
The article also points to the differences of the two approaches of
holism and universalism on such issues as the nature of philosophy,
history of philosophy, knowledge, theology, and cognition.
Keywords: universalism, holism, history of philosophy
Ma‘rifat-I falsafi, Vol. ١٠, No. ١ (Fall ٢٠١٢), pp. ٨١-١١١
The Concept of Extensity of Natural Body in the Natural philosophy of Ibn Sina
Gholamhosein Rahimi
The concept of extension in natural sciences and the feature of
extensity of physical objects is considered self evident and presumptive
by Muslim theosophers. That a physical object has dimensions of width,
length, and depth is recognized by almost all theosophers. However, they
have followed different procedures in describing and explaining this
fact. It is most likely that the only intellectual concept common among
all classic and later philosophers is the very extensity of physical
objects. The issue of extensity has not been taken into deep and precise
consideration and investigation due to deeming itself evident and
because of its frequent adoption and recognition by philosophers. Thus,
this issue has been rarely studied according to the findings of modern
science or any new approach. As the article suggests, no new or
different explanation has been given for the concept of dimension and
extensity since the time of Ibn Sina.
Benefitting directly from Ibn Sina’s discussions on extended body, the
present article seeks to offer a roughly new account of the concept of
extension. In addition, it tends to see this issue not belonging
exclusively to the field of intellectual sciences, but as a part of
modern science. Thus it takes the relation of extension to its analogous
concepts in mathematics into account.
Keywords: extension, dimension, natural body, extended system, coordinate system, natural philosophy of Ibn Sina
Ma‘rifat-I falsafi, Vol. ١٠, No. ١ (Fall ٢٠١٢), pp. ٦٧-٨٠
Existential and Epistemological Explanation of Faculty of Memory in Islamic Philosophy
Mohammad Nejati
Mahdi Akbari
One of the most important inner faculties of soul is the faculty of
memory. The present article deals with this faculty in existential and
epistemological realms both. In the existential realm, the general
tendency of Muslim philosophers towards reductive approach concerning
inner faculties of soul is reasonable. However, because of the
distinctive attitude of contemporary philosophers towards this faculty
and its functions, existential autonomy is the most likely idea. In the
epistemological approach, considering the analogous approach of Mulla
Sadra and contemporary Muslim philosophers, the functions of memorizing
and retrieving meanings both are dealt with in the context of presence
and abstraction. In this realm, the probability of labeling the process
of retrieving as fallible due to the imperfection and lack of
intensification of certain souls is being explained. On the issue of the
quality of the correspondence of the meanings of memory, the article
has taken into consideration Mulla Sadra’s approach and particularly
Ayatollah Mesbah’s one concerning gradation of intuitive perceptions and
the theory of the unity of the intelligent and the intelligible as the
platform of the transcendence of soul in terms of degrees of intuitive
knowledge and achieving the final goal of affection.
Keywords: faculty of mind, Islamic philosophy, retrieving, soul
Ma‘rifat-I falsafi, Vol. ١٠, No. ١ (Fall ٢٠١٢), pp. ٤١-٦٥
An Inquiry into Speculative Intellect from the Perspective of Ibn Sina and Mula Sadra
Jamal Soroush
Mohammad Fanai Eshkevari
Speculative intellect is the most significant faculty of intellective
soul whose principal function — according to philosophers — is the
intellection of universals. These universals comprise forms and
meanings, conceptions and affirmations, true and false propositions,
theoretical and practical propositions, the necessary, possible and
impossible ones, presumed premises and certain premises. Without any
need to body and physical powers, speculative intellect receives these
universals from supreme beginnings in a particular way with intuitive
knowledge, while its role in this reception is just passivity and
affection. The present article is an attempt to respond to the following
questions from the perspective of Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra: What are
the principles of speculative intellect and its various grades? Is it
possible for all people to achieve all grades of speculative intellect?
What is the role of speculative intellect in creation of knowledge and
morality? Is there any role for speculative intellect in the
happiness and perfection of man in this world and the Hereafter? What
are the obstacles to this role?
Keywords: intellect, speculative intellect, Ibn Sina , Mulla Sadra
Ma‘rifat-I falsafi, Vol. ١٠, No. ١ (Fall ٢٠١٢), pp. ١١-٣٩
Nature of Creation from the Perspective of Mulla Sadra
Morteza Rezai
Having a clear image of the nature of creation not only gives a true
comprehension of the quality of the relation of man with his Creator,
but paves the way for being a better servant before God. Considering the
comprehensiveness of Mulla Sadra’s philosophy, the important question
is what picture he gives of the reality of creation. Taking the works
and thoughts of Mulla Sadra into consideration, we find out that he
depicts creation in the framework of the theory of manifestation in the
light of the theory of particular unity of existence. Based on
this picture, the absolute existence, enjoying all existential
perfections, creates the creatures through a process of retrogression
and manifestation. What occurs in the process of manifestation is the
appearance of the latent attributes and perfections of the absolute
existence the absolute that is present within the determinations
and manifestations. However the absolute essence has adopted certain
determination and has descended from the position of absoluteness and
absence of determination. Thus the reality of creation, from the
perspective of Mulla Sadra, is nothing but limitation and determination
of the unique absolute essence of God. Creatures are considered as the
determinations of the very absolute existence. Of course, God — glory be
to Him — is not the very essence of any creature, and no creature is
the very essence of God.
Keywords: creation, particular gradation of existence, copulative existence, particular unity of existence, manifestation