نشریه نسیم خرد
سال نهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 17، پاییز و زمستان 1402)

In this study, an attempt is made to explore the nature of understanding based on the foundations of transcendent wisdom and, accordingly, to examine how understanding and its probable levels can be realized. Using an analytical-documentary approach and theory generation in the field of ontology of understanding from the existing foundations in transcendental wisdom, the process of understanding and its probable levels are examined. The analysis reveals that understanding arises from the existential union of the perceiving subject with the object of understanding. Therefore, an understanding that is reliable and dependable maximally aligns the subject with the content. Since the desired understanding of a phenomenon must also induce changes in the behavior of the understanding subject, the process of understanding formation should take place within the framework of volitional acts. Therefore, in proportion to the union achieved between the understanding subject and the object of understanding, which leads to a change in their behavior, the six-level level of initial notion, preliminary understanding, analytical understanding, practical understanding, argumentative understanding, and creative understanding can be considered for understanding.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr is one of the prominent figures of the traditionalist movement who has played a significant role in expressing and explaining the views of this movement. The most important viewpoint of Seyyed Hossein Nasr, which has sparked many discussions, is the theory of the transcendent unity of religions. In this view, by drawing on the foundations of metaphysical wisdom and theoretical mysticism, he has concluded that all religions have a unified truth, and the differences between religions are related to external matters of religions, not the truth of religions. In this view, Nasr has given a new garment to the perspective of religious pluralism, which individuals like John Hick in the world of Christianity and Abdolkarim Soroush in the world of Islam promote. This study is written in a descriptive-critical manner, and the author, after explaining Nasr’s view, addresses its shortcomings, such as neglecting the discussion of eschatology, relativism towards religious doctrines, and its contradiction with the definitive texts of religions that consider salvation exclusive to a religion.

In theoretical mysticism, the human’s soul is the midpoint between his immaterial spirit and his material body. It has tools called faculties. This article searches in the psychology of the theoretical mysticism and founds its quest on the analytical-descriptive method of the faculties of the soul to investigate their functions as well as the relationship between the soul and its faculties. It concludes that considering the most basic foundation in theoretical mysticism, which is personal unity of existence, the unity of the soul is delineated under the true shading unity – which is the shade of the divine true real unity – and accordingly, the faculties of the soul are referred to as manifestations and specifications of the soul. Thus, the plurality of the faculties are not conflicting with the soul’s unity; rather, they show its existential comprehensiveness and strength, and suggest that the soul, while preserving its unity and oneness, is equal with the faculties, and that the soul’s faculties are existent in all orders of the soul through conditional mood. Therefore, the existence of human’s soul is, in the position of essence, non-conditioned to its own orders and specifications and is, in the manifestation of faculties, conditioned by something.

The religious texts, while stating various ways for knowing God, have introduced a way called ‘knowing Allah by Allah’. For instance, Amir al-Muʾmenin (Imam Ali) has been quoted as saying, ‘know Allah by Allah…’ In interpreting this hadith, Kuleyni, Saduq and Majlesi have written materials that seem to face some challenges. In Kuleyni’s interpretation of this hadith, there are two possibilities: one is negative and purifying interpretation, and the other is interpretation based on similitude while purifying. Sheikh Saduq seeks to present an interpretation based on the ‘unity of divine actions’ and the longitudinal (hierarchal) system of the universe. Majlesi also states numerous expositions for this hadith and regards as the best among them the evidence leading to knowledge. Some of these views are defective in their content, and some others, disregarding the fact that they interpret these hadiths, state a correct and right point but cannot be considered as an interpretation for these hadiths. This study is seeking to use an analytical-descriptive method to investigate the views of those three great scholars of tradition in this regard. Investigating this issue is important because it clarifies the point that doctrinal discussions and items of knowledge expressed in the Shiite religious texts require scrutiny and deep thinking, and even great scholars may err in this regard.

Few people are unfamiliar with or have not heard of extraordinary phenomena, but the question that arises for many is what causes these phenomena and how they can be scientifically explained. Does a natural phenomenon, known or unknown, give rise to these phenomena, or is it a supernatural phenomenon? In this study, which is conducted using an analytical-descriptive method, we attempt to answer this question based on Allameh Tabataba’i’s and Fakhr Razi’s viewpoint. These two prominent scholars of the Islamic world, both theologians, and philosophers and interpreters, have provided different answers to this issue. Allameh Tabataba’i, based on his theological and philosophical foundations, considered a natural fact as a cause, and provides a scientific explanation for extraordinary phenomena. On the other hand, Fakhr Razi, based on his own Ash‘ari foundations, considered a supernatural fact as a cause and deemed a scientific explanation impossible.

Non-ikhtirāmī (literary ‘non-artificial’) death is the ‘natural’ death as opposed to sudden deaths occurring due to various events. Regarding the reason for non-artificial (or ‘natural’) deaths, there are two views: the well-known view is that the reason for ‘natural’ death is corruption of one’s constitution and the soul’s inability in managing the body due to body’s weakness and its capacity. The second view is that of Mulla Sadra to the effect that [natural] death occurs due to the soul’s substantial motion and its reaching an stage of perfection. That is, the soul achieves – in some stages of its motion – the existential independence, its attachment to the body and its management of the body is cut off, and it comes to the moment of death. According to the well-known view, the reason for corruption of one’s constitution and body’s death is the failure of the nourishing faculty, but there is disagreement on the reason for this failure. Mulla Sadra rejects all views in this regard and maintains that the reason for natural death of one’s body is merely the soul’s perfection. In the present study, the authors use a descriptive-analytical method to analyze and investigate the two aforementioned views. The privilege of the present study is that, firstly, it offers new and comprehensive reviews about Mulla Sadra’s view and, secondly, it explains the reason for non-artificial (i.e. natural) death by relying on the discussions of the divine decree and ordinance.

The theory of the existence of ‘the caused link’ (rābiṭ ma‘lūl) is among Mulla Sadra’s innovations and one of his most important foundations. In this theory, he negates plurality in existence and refers it to the states of existence to reach the personal unity of existence and plurality of the states of existence. Of course, it is difficult to deeply understand this theory and, to prevent misunderstanding, we must note that the theory of existence of a link and its consequence – that is, the personal unity of the truth of existence – neither necessitates denial of creatures and possible beings, nor does it necessitate incarnation of the ‘Necessary by Essence’ in the possible beings. In this theory, Mulla Sadra seeks to prove the claim that the existence of the ‘caused’ is neither the truth of the existence of the cause, nor is it independent and separate from it; rather, it is a truth between these two states. But this does not necessitate that the existence of the ‘caused’ have both the mode of dependence and mode of independence. In principle, in the sphere of dependence of the ‘caused’ on the cause, there is no ‘being’ dependent from one respect and independent from another respect; just as ‘independent’ means ‘absolutely independent’ not partial or relative. This is because in philosophy, existence is either purely dependent or purely independent. Consequently, for Mulla Sadra, the existence of the ‘caused’ (possible) is related to the existence of the ‘cause’ (necessary) in a pure form; and it has no independence. It is just the necessary being that is absolutely independent.

Cognitive sciences encompass various theories on the perception of meaning. Some of these theories are based on positivism. According to the main doctrine of positivism, the only valid cognitive tool is sensation (senses). Valid sciences, according to this thought school, are those that observe and experiment with the apparent relationships and connections of objects. Sensationalist psychology is one of these sciences. In this field, human perception is studied at the level of nerves, neural stimuli, and brain activities. Some branches of this type of psychology consider perception to be material. In this type of psychology, the meaning of perception is only explained through sensory tools and a completely materialistic approach. This perspective is rejected by many Islamic scholars because sciences associated with positivism only provide a materialistic explanation of phenomena, while many phenomena have immaterial and abstract aspects. From the perspective of Islamic philosophy, in addition to the senses, human intellect holds a special position in perceiving meaning. This perception takes place at different levels and through various tools, but ultimately, the main source of meaning is the human self. This study first examines how the perception of meaning is examined in positivism and then explains how the perception of meaning is understood from the perspective of Islamic philosophy. The method of study is descriptive, analytical, and comparative

One of the issues under the subject of principality of existence has been the pluralities of the universe for whose explanation the theory of gradation of existence was proposed. In the transcendental philosophy, in addition to the three types of plurality (part of essence, out of essence, and the whole essence), a fourth criterion was proposed for justification of some pluralities: difference in the whole essence while sharing the whole essence, or difference in strength and weakness. Sadraʾid thinkers (followers of Mulla Sadra) disagreed in explaining this criterion. Allameh Tabataba’i believes that some pluralities of the real universe is not justifiable with this criterion. By proposing the new criterion of ‘objectivity of distinguishing factor and common factor’, he believes if the difference of beings returns to the difference in their orders and their strength and weakness, the gradation is longitudinal; otherwise, it is transverse. Master Mesbah rejects Allameh’s statements and believes if instances of a concept have a cause-effect relationship, then that concept is attributed to them in gradational form; otherwise, there is no transverse gradation and such pluralities are different by all their existence.

Theological topics were initially discussed orally. Gradually, theological schools emerged and their followers sought to write down their beliefs. In the beginning, Imamiyyah theology was mainly narrative, but, due to the inadequacy of narrativism, it was gradually pushed towards interpretive rationalism; and finally, due to the shortcomings of this method, it had to take on a philosophical tone. In fact, these three methods, which are located it the same line, marked the course of the development of theology. Ignoring the course of the development of philosophical theology has caused imprecise judgments to be made about whether or not theology should be philosophized. In this study, the process of philosophizing the theology is explained using a library research method.

Islamic philosophy is a knowledge that is associated with the Islamic religion, and the reasons behind this association have sparked numerous debates. One of the methods used to prove the Islamic nature of this philosophy is to assess its alignment with the scientific principles of Islam. Understanding a field of knowledge involves examining its scientific principles, such as its subject matter, definition, and issues, and the ‘purpose’ or objective of the field is one of these principles. Assessing the alignment of the purpose of philosophy with the Islamic faith assists us in comprehending the reasons for associating this philosophy with Islam. Islamic philosophers have mentioned various goals for philosophy either within the context of defining philosophy or as independent objectives. This study collects these goals through library research and then applies a descriptive-analytical method to assess their relationship with the objectives outlined by the religion for creation, the mission of prophets, or the revelation of heavenly books. The goals of philosophy can be categorized into five categories: knowing the truth of things, knowing Almighty Allah, completing souls, attaining similarity to Allah, and transforming into a rational world. Among these goals, ‘knowing the truth of things’ is considered the most important goal. These goals are in line with or at least influenced by the teachings of Islam. This analysis demonstrates that Islamic philosophers have taken into account the ultimate and goals set forth in the Islamic faith for human life and have enumerated the same goals using philosophical language.

The impossibility of reconciliation of two contradictories has an important position as the ‘mother proposition’ in the system of foundationalism. This article attempts to explain, through an analytical-critical method, the objections that can be posed to this principle and answer them. Doubt in recounting position of this principle and considering it as a mental structure, doubt in its realism, doubt in the instances of this principle due to probability of not discovering some of the conditions of contradiction, doubt in possibility of adjusting an argument by relying on this principle due to no independent proposition of it and, finally, doubt in referring to this principle in foundationalists’ scientific efforts are among the most important drawbacks in this regard. None of these drawbacks seems to be right. Impossibility of reconciliation is the essential judgment of two contradictories, no matter in which existential sphere they are assumed. Doubts in realism of this principle will lead to skepticism, and intuitive knowledge is the foundation of affirming it. The inductive nature of the conditions of contradiction is not in conflict with the axiomaticity of this principle. Argumentation is not restricted to syllogism. Besides, according to some foundations, the primary axioms are pluralized along with this principle. In their scientific efforts, the foundationalists also are obliged, merely in the position of offering proofs on the basis of restricting the primary axioms to this principle, to refer their arguments to this principle.