WISDOM AND PHILOSOPHY QUARTERLY
Year:2009 | Volume:1 | Issue:1|Papers Count:8

The present article embarks on dealing with the function of religion in different field. In the first part after elucidating the concept of the function of religion, the issue of the functions of religion on two social and individual level will be discussed.Under the first topic the individual functions including emotional knowledge –breeding and psychological or mental hygiene (giving meaning to life, removing the feeling of nostalgia, creating positive emotions), moral and behavioral functions (giving rational justification to morality, its support and practical guarantee) will be death. Under the second topic, hte social functions of religion including solidarity, social freedom, social justice, identity formation, and providing the ground for culture and civilization will be discussed.The second section of the article is about the possibility of finding a substitute for the functions of religion. In this regard, some have suggested philosophy, science and mysticism as substitutes for religion. However, this article will shed light on the shortcomings of these claims.The final part of the article will discuss pathology of religion's function. Some of pathological deficiency is viewed by some as alienation, superstition, objection against science and supporting the dominant power. These defects in religion's function will be analyzed in this article.

The existence of pluralities in the world is an undeniable fact. Realistic epistemology only denies the epistemological pluralism rather than its other varieties. Some of the pluralities should be accepted, for they depend on objectivities and are the source of effects. Ontological pluralism is one of the foundations of epistemological pluralism which enjoy various versions. There is certain criticism against its foundations.Psychological foundation of knowledge stems from Kant’s ideas. By developing certain mental patterns he proved that knowledge is the result of the interaction of the mental patterns with the world outside. Though this is only an unfounded claim. The epistemological foundations of epistemological pluralism contradict the correspondence theory of truth. This theory was more successful in comparison to other theories on truth.The linguistic foundations of pluralism found its expression in Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics. This theory also suffers from certain shortcomings.

According to some thinkers like John Hich, Rumi is a religious pluralist. This view is unfounded for; in ascribing a view to a figure one should take into account certain evidences and rules of that figure and his idea. Given this fact:Rumi was a Muslim, staunchly stressing the truthfulness of Islam and was a realist and rationalist philosopher and belong to the pre- Kantian period. Moreover, he openly stressed on inclusiveness and monopolism in his poems and considered other religions other than Islam as abrogated. So he cannot be a pluralist.This article is an attempt to carry out a critical study of those who consider Rumi as a pluralist and proved that pluralistic interpretation of Rumi’s views are not tenable.

In this article the criticism of Tafkik School on the nature of true knowledge form the point of view of philosophers especially from the point of view of Transcendental Philosophy is investigated.With presenting philosophers' and Tafkik School's view about the nature of true knowledge, this article has revealed that there are common views shared between these two groups concerning some issues like the difference between the true knowledge and customary knowledge, the fact that the outward and corporeal senses and familiar reason have no contribution to the process of acquiring, luminosity, and incorporeality of true knowledge.Despite Tafkik School's claim regarding the nonpresential aspect of true knowledge, the view point of Transcendental theosophy about the presential aspect of knowledge in respect to the rational and traditional reasons is confirmed.On the other hand, no rational or traditional justification was detected in the view of Tafkik School concerning believing inner experience of the light of knowledge and Intellect by soul. However, in the new readings of Tafkik school some radical and fundamental changes could be detected which seem to give more dept to this current of thought.

Unity of being is the same as monotheism based on considering God self-sufficient. The beings other than God are only the aspects, modes and lights of God. This is construed as the individual unity of being or the existence of the essence of appearances or Being and appearance. In mystic's view, who have reached God, all diversities are removed from the realm of God's existence except the diversity of appearances or the appearance of being in order to consider existence confined to God and consider becoming or engendered existence as the characteristic of beings other than God. In this way the diversity will be the manifestations of expanded emanation or effluence.Unity of being is higher and more sublime than the unity of vision, and in fact it is the zenith of mysticism and monotheism. In this regard, what Allameh Rafii Ghazvini in his commentary book -Unity of Being –has suggested supports the unity of vision not the unity of being.The following article in three parts has dealt with expressing and proving the unity of being and has focused on the Allame Raffi Ghazvini's theory and his reading of this issue.

What is the quality of the soul-body relation? As is known the former is real and the latter is corporeal. How a spatial substance can interact with a non-spatial substance? Philosophers put forward various solutions to this question. Even Plato in spite of believing in essential difference between them never denies their interaction and maintains that there should be a balance in the soul-body relation.Aristotle considers soul as the form of the body and holds that they share the same identity. Ibn Sina is of the view that the soul is a simple, immaterial and separate substance that will originate with the origination of the body, but its attachment to the body is accidental rather than essential. But Mulla Sadra’s view is something new. In his view the soul is corporeal in its origination but through trance- substantial motion it will attain the state of immateriality. The Gnostics also maintain that the soul- body relation is like the God-world relation.

According to Allamah Tabatabai, action (to do) and affection (to suffer) are identical with motion. Nevertheless, motion in terms of its relation to agent is action, but in terms of its relation to passive nature is affection. Allamah Tabatabai criticized this view. In Mulla Sadra’s view motion in the category of action requires motion within motion which is impossible. This view of Mulla Sadra also was criticized by Tabatabai. According to Tabatabai, all category of accident following the motion of substance, sensible motion in four categories of quantity, place, and position are motion within motion.

The importance of f Khaje Nsir al-Din Tosi's character and his enduring services could be investigated and considered from different aspects among which we discuss the two following aspects:1. Khaje Nasir al-Din Tosi was a great originator of scientific, political and social changes in the service of Iran and Islam.2. He was the first philosopher and Kalam authority-scholastic theologian- who could cause reconciliation between philosophy and Kalam –scholastic theology. He tried to make Kalam (scholastic theology) philosophical and combine philosophy with Kalam (scholastic and speculative theology). On one hand, he tried to bring all theologians and religious thinkers under the shelter of Kalam discipline and rational standards. On the other hand, he put all of his efforts to make Kalam discipline close to philosophy.On the base of this way of thinking and especial standpoint, Khaje Nasir al-Din Tosi not only destroys the systematized thoughts of Ash'arites but also he tries to expand and develop the philosophical thoughts theologians. This second characteristic of Khaje is investigated in this article.