HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
Year:2011 | Volume:2 | Issue:2 (6)|Papers Count:7

Abul Abbas Fadl Ibn Muhammed Lawkari was a prominent literary man, mathematician, and philosopher of the 5th century (AH). Through one intermediary, he was a student of Ibn Sina and a student of Bahmanyar and, through three intermediaries; he was a master of Khwajah Nasir al-Din Tusi. Lawkari was a well-known literary man who wrote poems in both Persian and Arabic. He had a collection of poems (diwan) from which only a few couplets are left. In addition, he left a treatise in which he presented all the principles of all axiomatic sciences, that is, logic, physics, ethics, mathematics, and practical wisdom in verse in Persian and explained them in eloquent Persian prose. Lawkari was a prominent mathematician who was assigned to compile the history of Jalali Malekshahi with the cooperation of some other mathematicians and astronomers such as Khayam Nishaburi, Khazani, Asfazari, and Vaseti. In the month of Ramezan of 471 AH, they moved the beginning of the month of Farvardin to the first of “haml” (Aries).He was one of the great philosophers of the 5th century who enjoyed complete mastery over the Peripatetic philosophy and spread philosophy in Khorasan. He trained some distinguished and famous students such as Qutb al-Zaman Tabasi Marwazi, ‘Abdulrazzaq Turki, and Sharaf al-Zaman Ilaqi. He also wrote a book called Bayan al-haq biziman al-sidq, which was a complete collection on all the axiomatic sciences of Peripatetic philosophy, intended to be used as a textbook. This work includes a summary of all the main problems of Peripatetic philosophy from the time of Aristotle until Bahmanyar. Of course, in spite of its brevity, it makes students of philosophy needless of all books on Peripatetic philosophers.Lawkari lived during the reign of Ghaznavid and Saljuk dynasties, i.e. during the period of the decline of rational sciences. Finally, with the rise of Abu Hamed Muhammed Ghazzali, the sworn enemy of philosophy, the chain of Peripatetic philosophers came to an end with Lawkari, and he was in fact the last Peripatetic philosopher in its particular sense. However, it must be added that, although rational sciences were greatly damaged by his demise, later they came back to the field of knowledge even stronger than before.

The concepts of Brahman (Impersonal God) and Ishwara (Personal God) constitute the central teachings of Shankara’s metaphysics. He approached these issues with reference to Vedantic school of thought as rooted in the Upanishads. Of all the commentators of the Vedanta school, Shankara and Ramanuja enjoy a prominent place; however, this article is limited to the former’s approach to the concept of Brahman and Ishwara. This is because Vedanta is mainly associated with Shankara’s name. Meanwhile, reference has been made to certain relevant concepts such as Maya and jiva in order to clarify the various dimensions of the concept of Brahman. According to Shankara, Brahman is identical with pure being, pure consciousness, and bliss. Brahman is ineffable and can only be described by its negative attributes. Yet, immediately after describing Brahman conceptually, Maya makes him appear in the form of Personal God. In Shankara’s metaphysics, Brahman as the macrocosm and Atman as the microcosm are the manifestations of Ultimate Reality. In Shankara’s view, Brahman and Atman possess various levels which are compatible with each other. At the highest level, the knower and knowledge, the subject and object, and the perceiver and perceived unite with each other and comprise a single reality.

Hakim Jahangir Khan, who was one of the later Sadrian philosophers, played an important role in the transfer of the Transcendent Philosophy from Isfahan to Tehran. In its process of development, this school was transferred to Shiraz by Mir Damad, Khwajah Nasir, and Qutb al-Din Shirazi. After being strengthened by Mulla Sadra, it was moved to Isfahan and was spread there by Hakim Mulla Ali Nuri and Hakim Zunuzi. Finally, upon the migration of Hakim Ilahi Qumshe’i to Tehran, the Transcendent Philosophy was also transferred to this city. Here, Jahangir khan who had previously become familiar with this school began disseminating it and teaching it to philosophy-seeking students. In this way, he performed a significant part in the spread of Sadrian Philosophy in Tehran.

The Majlisi clan (father, son, daughters, son-in-laws, and grandchildren) played a determining role in the growth of religious sciences and the formation of the Shi‘ite teachings in the Safawid era and onwards. Mulla Muhammed Taqi Majlisi, known as the First Majlisi, was the founder of this clan. He was a knowledgeable scholar and a prominent jurisprudent, and his name and the name of his famous son, ‘Allamah Mulla Muhammed Baqir Majlisi, are ever-lasting in the history of Shi‘ism’s scientific life. In fact, Islamic and Shi‘ite philosophy owes a great debt to these two great thinkers. Much has been said and written about the life, works, and thoughts of these two reputable jurisprudents and their dynasty. However, this paper is devoted to the supreme character of the First Majlisi, particularly to his gnostic and ethical ideas and their influence on the Shi‘ite scholars succeeding him.Mulla Muhammed Taqi Majlisi was one of the well-known jurisprudents and muhaddiths of the world of Shi‘ism in the 11th century. He was well-versed in various fields such as jurisprudence, hadith, interpretation, theology, ethics, and gnosis, wrote some invaluable books in these fields, and trained a number of skillful and outstanding students. In addition to being a brilliant star in the world of knowledge and science, he was a perfect model for the farers of the path of truth. He had drunk from the heavenly spring of Alawi sciences, had lived with the teachings of the People of the Household, and had made their love and friendship the light of his way. In this way, he finally turned into a pioneer in the field of knowledge and practice. The First Majlisi had his own particular school and method in ethics and gnosis and succeeded in leaving an eternal impact on the pious scholars after himself. The roots and underlying principles of the ethical-gnostic school founded by the famous philosopher and jurisprudent Aqa Muhammed Bidabadi can be seen in the works, ideas, and words of the First Majlisi.

The time interval between Tusi and Mulla Sadra can be called the period of “intermission” in the history of Islamic philosophy. During this time, philosophical thought was never discontinued; however, no new ideas were posed in the field of philosophy, and philosophical discussions were overshadowed by theoretical gnosis and theology. The philosophers of this period were mainly commentators rather than writers. The rise of the School of Shiraz was a ray of hope for its seed to flourish and come to fruition in the School of Isfahan, which was exactly what happened. The knowledge of the School of Isfahan and, particularly, “Sadrian philosophy” is impossible without the knowledge of the School of Shiraz. Sadr al-Din Dashtaki was one of the philosophers and theologians of the intermission period who was trained in the School of Shiraz and played a significant role in the formation of Mulla Sadra’s character. The knowledge of Dashtaki and his contemporaries helps us to learn about both the process of the historical development of philosophical thoughts in the world of Islam and their influence on Mulla Sadra and his advocates. Dashtaki was an innovative philosopher and theologian and a creative and hardworking scholar who never surrendered to fatigue. His dialogs with his distinguished contemporary scholar, Jalal al-Din Dawani, as well as the numerous commentaries he wrote on Tusi’s Tajrid al-itiqad, testify to this claim. Moreover, he was a critique and criticized the main philosophical and theological ideas and thoughts of the thinkers before himself. In this way, he introduced some new problems to the field of Islamic philosophy including: 1) the unity of form with hyle, 2) the unity of the soul and body, 3) lack of subsistence of elements in composites, 4) existence of parts in the form of potency in composites, and 5) the consistency of the unity of the soul with the body in the outside. We can say that in the development of the basic principles of his philosophy, such as the principiality of existence, the trans-substantial motion, the theory of gradation and the unity of the soul with its faculties, Mulla Sadra was influenced by Sadr al-Din Dashtaki’s ideas and thoughts. In this paper, the writer has tried to discuss some of Dashtaki’s philosophical thoughts which have been debated in the works of the philosophers succeeding him so that the extent of his influence on the ideas of later philosophers comes to light.

There are two different types of research on logic. On the one hand, the issues of concept and attaining it, judgment and attaining it and the premises of each must be discussed in logic. Naturally, one must first discuss concepts and then judgments and all logicians have discussed both concepts and attaining them, and judgments and attaining them observing the order mentioned above. Therefore, the division of logical discussions into two groups in this sense has attracted the attention of all logicians. On the other hand, there are some differences between logicians concerning determining the different parts of logic and the order of logical issues. The same differences have created two methods in compiling logical issues: a “nine-part” method and a “two part” method. Apparently, regarding research on logic, Ibn Sina followed both methods. Therefore, if we wish to consider a dimension for the “two-part” and not “nine-part” logical studies, it will only depend on its collective and historical structure of logic rather than its real and factitself structure.

The atomic theory or the theory of individual substance is the result of the studies conducted by early Greek natural philosophers such as Leucippus and Democritus. This theory is based on the belief in fundamental particles and existence of void in the body. These atoms are infinite in number and form, enjoy permanent motion and corporeality, and are impenetrable. Their coming together and dispersion results in generation and corruption, and reordering them because of motion results in change and evolution. However, Aristotle and his followers rejected this theory because of their opposition to the views of early Greek philosophers. Some Islamic philosophers have agreed with this theory because of their interest in finding the cause of the emergence of being; however, they have created some changes in it; for example, they have rejected the eternity and finitude of these particles. Of course, some of them, such as Nizam, disagreed with the existence of undividable atoms. Nevertheless, the atomic theory has become stronger with the advancements in natural sciences during the last three centuries and has led to numerous effects such as the great progress in Quantum physics and modern chemistry.