JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL THEOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Year:2007 | Volume:9 | Issue:1 (33)|Papers Count:9

Augustine's epistemological perspective is one of those viewpoints which emphasize on the serious effect of non-epistemic factors on knowledge. Investigation into Augustine's thought, especially in the realm of epistemology, can show that he is among those thinkers who has scrutinized the impact of man's feelings, affections and purposes on his beliefs. The paper is going to analyze the doctrine of "I believe so that I may understand" in Augustine's thought.

"Know yourself" is a principle that many theosophists, even before Socrates, have emphasized upon it. But, the philosophers' approach to this principle is different from that of mystics. According to the philosophers, the self is nothing but the soul in a genera concept (al-nafs); so for them, self-knowledge is known as a kind of psychology, a branch of knowledge among others. But for the mystics, especially for Ibn 'Arabi, the real Self is much deeper than the soul, and self-knowledge is the ultimate goal of mysticism.This paper will address the following questions from Ibn 'Arabi's point of view:1-What is the source of this principle: "Know yourself"? 2-What does it entail in terms of a goal? 3-What is meant by self in it? 4-What is meant by knowledge? 5-How can we know ourselves?In this paper, the importance of self-knowledge in Ibn 'Arabi's philosophy, the reliability of the two above mentioned hadiths for him, and his different interpretations of them will be discussed in the context of his theory of oneness of Being (wahdat al-wujud). Also, "fanaa" which is the result of self-knowledge will be discussed from Ibn 'Arabi's point of view and his understanding of this term will be compared with the doctrine of the annihilation, according to other philosophical and mystical traditions.

One of major discussions in the history of theology and philosophy, whether in western or Islamic culture, is whether the reason can gain a positive Knowledge of the divine attributes. The author in this paper has attempted to show, on the basis of both rational proofs and textual proofs that Negative (or apophatic) Knowledge is the only available Knowledge of God's qualities, so that any attempt to acquire a positive Knowledge is resulted in anthropomorphism, which is false by reason and tradition.

Qadi `Abdul-Jabbar, although has come to be Known as a Mu`tazili theologian, can be certainly mentioned as a moral philosopher by attention to his ethical views in the theological books. The paper is going to present his ethical opinions concerning normative ethics and Meta-ethics. It shows that `Abdul-Jabbar is a rationalist moral philosopher, who considers reason as the origin of moral obligations, and as the means of evaluating the rightness and wrongfulness of actions. Moreover, he is an essentialist, that is, he regards the nature of actions as the source of rightness or wrongfulness of actions, rather than the external factors. Furthermore, he is a rule-deontologist, who holds human beings must act in accordance with rules and duties. In addition to these, he is an ethical intuitionist and foundationalist; that is to say, he believes that there exist basic moral propositions that can be intellectually intuitionable. These propositions expressing moral principles are evident and necessary ones, and determinant foundations of other duties, whether theoretical or practical.

In the philosophy of a particular science, there presents some questions and answers respecting that science, and the philosophy of Biology is one of the philosophies-of. In our scholarly society, there are some questions to which the philosophy of Biology can reply. On the other hand, it propounds new questions and answers. Pointing to some of these questions and answers, the author discusses on the opinions of Aristotle and Muslims, theory of evolution in the 19th century and two problems in the 20th century.

John Dewey's attitude in ethics is called instrumentalism, which is a kind of pragmatism. In his view, moral principles and criterions are not rules but 'general ideas' acquired through experience. These ideas are in fact instruments or devices for dealing with new situations. Dewey considers thinking as a tool for transition from a given ambiguous situation to a better one. Such a pragmatistic attitude presupposes the conditions of ensuring value judgments in the very behavior of human beings, rather than in a fixed prior authority such as divine commands or platonic ideas or pure intellect. Dewey's view, suggesting the rejection of ethical ideals, can be challenged. He holds that knowledge is relative; as a result, the society which is democratically moral loses its rational foundation.

Discussion on the fundamentals and aims of the law, especially philosophy of the law, is among the main themes of such a discipline. Proportionate to the attitudes towards the cosmos and man, there are aims and basic rules for legal systems. Social justice, freedom, interests and order are among those aims and principles in different legal systems. Accordingly, in Islamic legal system, the fundamentals of the law are based on values, limits, and rights in the religious  perspective, so that the enforcement of the legal rules provides happiness in the life hereafter as well as in this world, whether individual or social happiness. The paper, written in two separate parts, examines the aims and fundamentals of different legal systems.

Applied Ethics, which is distinguished from Meta-ethics and normative theories, is a branch of normative ethics whose special focus is on issues of practical concern. There is no consensus of opinion on its nature, content and methods of reasoning. Some of its controversial issues are: evaluation of actions, solution of problems and recognition of norms and ethical codes. This paper deals first with the analysis and evaluation of different approaches concerning the nature, content and methods of applied ethics. Then, it refers to some cases of alive challenges. And finally, it presents some suggestions to bring these controversies to their end.