A Survey of the Concept of Existence Viewed by Kant and Suhrawardi

The issue under study in this article lies in surveying common and different points in Kant and Suhrawardi's concept of existence. Accordingly, we have studied the opinions of these two Western and Eastern philosophers about the division of concepts, the position of the concept of existence among the concepts as well as the influence of their views on the proofs for the existence of God. It can be said that Kant considers existence as being conventional and only of one meaning, that is the relations found between the subject and the predicate of propositions. While Suhrawardi, has viewed the concept of existence as being of three meanings, one conventional as that of Kant and the other non-conventional. As for proving the existence of God, their differences would be considerable as demanded by their considerations on the concept of existence.