JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL THEOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Year:2019 | Volume:20 | Issue:4 (78)|Papers Count:10

The teaching of mediation in Islamic tradition refers to a person requesting forgiveness of another and in the Christian tradition apart from forgiveness includes the bestowal of goodness to another as well. Motahhari and Brü mmer consider the acceptance of mediation to be faced with the problem of superiority of the mediator’ s mercy as compared to God’ s mercy and the limitedness of God’ s benevolence. Motahhari believes the answer to this problem to be in the attention to the hierarchy in the world’ s system and the bestowal of good to creation in the form of a linear system; mediation is not the existential cause for forgiveness but rather the preparatory cause for the bestowal of forgiveness from God. As a reply to this problem, Brü mmer addresses God’ s permission for man’ s participation in spreading good to others in the form of prayers. According to Brü mmer, God has made the world such that through prayers – while establishing a loving relationship with God – man can also have an active participation with God’ s power in the acceptance of prayer. In this way, Motahhari and Brü mmer with their answers consider mediation and God’ s absolute benevolence to be consistent with one another. According to both, the world has an order in which man can play a role in spreading good to others with God’ s permission.

The views of Shaykh Ahmad bin Zaynuddin Ahsai have raised extensive debates regarding some intellectual discussions. One of the keywords of his intellectual system is the term “ Hurqalya” which has also been used among the scholars before Shaykh Ahsai like for example, Shaykh Ishraq. While addressing the historical background of the research, the writer indicates Ahsai’ s meaning of “ Hurqalya” in different instances in his works through a brief study of the term both in lexicological terms as well as in the specific context of Shaykh Ahsai and shows that it indicates the Imaginal world and the world of Ideas. Apart from this, sometimes the word is used in more a more specific meaning to indicate the cosmos of the Imaginal world. Similarly, while studying these two common uses of the term “ hurqalya” in different works of Ahsai and explaining its characteristics in more detail, the writer strives to extract its characteristics in order to clarify its relation to the Imaginal world and to show the differences between Shaykh Ahsai’ s views in comparison to other scholars, particularly with the philosophers before him.

In this article we strive to study the position of intellection and thinking in belief-related issues according to Alamah Tabatabai and Gabriel Marcel. The position and function of the intellect in belief-related issues has always been a point of focus of intellectuals and philosophers and has had a decisive role in determining the path of theology. Allamah Tabatabai and Marcel have also given special attention to belief-related issues and intellection and its position regarding these issues. Marcel criticizes the type of intellection regarding belief-related issues when encountering the complexity of these issues and presents a new way of thinking which is specific and personal and is instrumental in understanding belief-related realities. According to Marcel, there is an essential difference between belief-related issues and logical issues and abstract thinking is particular to logical issues; but Allamah presents the domain of this thinking to be much more extensive by considering the intellect to be independent in understanding realities, so that belief-related thinking comes under intellectual thinking. He considers the position of intellect to be very high by considering the authority of the intellect to be essential and definitive and in contrast to Marcel, he believes that the difference between religious denomination and philosophy is a method and they both seek a shared goal which is understanding realities. The path followed in this article is to first explain the views of both philosophers regarding the topic and then comparing them with each other.

Irvin Yalom believes that loneliness is an existential boundary and pain which is inseparable from a human being. He comes into this world alone, leaves it alone and he alone is responsible for creating his own character; not only does he have no helper in this world, but there is no refuge for him either and he has been thrown into this world involuntarily. Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi (Molavi) also discusses the pain of loneliness, but it is not Yalomi’ s type of bitter loneliness; rather, it is in the form of loneliness from one’ s origin; his anguish is not from not having a refuge, rather it is the separation from God and estrangement in the world that has brought him anguish and pain. In Yalom’ s view, the pain of loneliness has no solution; it is an existential issue that man must accept and he can only soothe it. But Molavi considers being with God as elimination of the pain of separation and loneliness. By presenting this research, the writes hopes to decrease the weight of loneliness through a meaningful approach. For this purpose, the article will first point out the aspects of the pain of loneliness and ultimately, will present solutions for release from this pain.

This article seeks to study the role of intention in moral values according to Mulla Sandra. Based on this, several hypotheses in regards to this topic according to Mulla Sandra will be presented. These hypotheses will be analyzed in the following questions: according to Mulla Sandra, does intention play a role in the valuation of the moral act? Supposing that Mulla Sandra accepts that it does, can this role also extend to the moral agent? Does he believe in the one-dimensional, and in other words, the one-way role of intention in the valuation of the moral act and agent? Or, based on Mulla Sandra’ s philosophical foundations and statements, can different yet alternate explanations be offered in regards to the valuation of the moral act, agent and intention? In keeping with these questions, the author first seeks to analyze the essence of intention and value according to Mulla Sandra and then to analyze the role of intention in four levels based on Mulla Sandra’ s expressions. Ultimately, the chosen view is the mutual and continuous effect of moral intention, act and agent in valuation of each other albeit in different levels and dimensions.

Jainism is among the ancient Indian religions and has a history of more than twenty five centuries and is considered to be among the Nastika or non-orthodox Indian religions. The matter of the soul, which is referred to as the Jiva in this school of thought, is one of the important concepts of this religion and is one of the two principal categories of ontology and is also one of the main and primary subject of Jainism philosophy. Jainism considers the actual existence of the soul to be an intuitive matter; however, they have still presented arguments for its existence. In his school of thought, even though the soul is not believed to be material, it has dimensions and expands and contracts in accordance with the body. An infinite number of souls exist and all existents, even elements consist of a soul that has from one up to six perceptional senses in accordance to the body it lives in. In its pure state the soul possesses unlimited awareness and intuition, unlimited rapture and joy, and is absolute perfection and knowledge and awareness is not a characteristic but rather its essence; however, this illuminated essence is encompassed by karma – an extremely subtle matter, as a result of certain actions and feelings and this is the start of its imprisonment. The goal of a Jainism way – farer is to rid the soul of these layers of karma known as lesya and this is attained through asceticism and during the course of successive lives. The purpose of this article is to explain the soul in Jainism through utilizing a descriptive-analytical method and using authentic library resources and shows that teachings in regards to the soul in Jainism are decidedly different from that of other Indian religions.

Freewill is one of the main pillars of a human being’ s voluntary actions and the explanation of its reality plays an important role in the description, commentary and interpretation of human actions. Mulla Sadra has mentioned his views regarding the reality of the human freewill in numerous places in his works; but his discussions are scattered, disordered and sometimes mixed with others views. This article explains Mulla Sadra’ s view regarding the human free will in his philosophical system through citing and collecting the different expressions in relation to this topic from his works, analyzing them and presenting logical arguments for them; and the article shows how the changing of foundations in Mulla Sadra’ s philosophy has resulted in an innovative explanation for the human freewill. The conclusion that has been drawn in this article is that according to Mulla Sadra freewill possesses a “ material-immaterial” pervasive existential essence and that which is known as the decisive decision is only one of the immaterial levels of this pervasive essence; this article also concludes that based on Mulla Sandra’ s foundations and due to a logical argument, it seems that a part of Mulla Sandra’ s view can and should be amended; in a way that decisive decision can have a material essence.

Since Descartes and the presentation of Skeptical arguments, our knowledge of the external world is one of the concerns of Western epistemic philosophers. This concern was not an issue in traditional Islamic philosophy and in recent times and after the Muslim philosophers became acquainted with modern Western philosophy, some contemporary Islamic philosophers sought to prove the existence of the external world in response to “ skepticism regarding the physical world” . Their reflections regarding this topic resulted in two metaphysical strategies: they proved the external world wither through the principal of causality or through “ the necessity of conformity between sensory perceptions and physical objects” . This article shows that neither of these arguments can prove their claim; apart from this, even if their arguments were successful in proving the results, the strong and famous argument “ from ignorance” which is in favor of Skepticism, is resistant against these arguments.

Cultural Pluralism has mostly emerged and developed in North America and Europe and as a result, other countries have also been affected by it in different levels. The most important issue that this research strives to address is Cultural Pluralism and its effects on educational systems. In the initial parts, the method of research is a description and analysis of the principal concepts like culture, diversity, Cultural Pluralism and cultural unity and in the later parts which is the study of the effects of Cultural Pluralism on educational systems is through analysis, exegesis and deduction. The results that have been achieved through the research show that two main factors cause Cultural Pluralism: the first is the phenomena of migration that results in ethnic diversity; this phenomenon has various effects on educational systems, an example of which is the emergence of multi-cultural education and training in some of today's societies. The second factor is the diversity of sciences, thoughts, inclinations and tastes which is a post-modern and post-constructionist phenomenon. If this type of diversity leads to cultural and scientific growth it is beneficial; but if it results in individualism and shakes the foundations of cultural unity and unity of thought in decision making and activities, it is not in favor of cultural and scientific activities including education and training.

In belief-related matters, because the necessity, i. e. all the pillars of the Principle of Presumption are present and there are no obstacles, there is no uncertainty regarding the principle feasibility of applying presumption concerning them; rather the absoluteness of its arguments also include actions of the heart. Regardless, some have negated the feasibility of applying presumption in belief-related issues by relying on proofs such as objectivity, or the reliability of belief on certitude, the inapplicability of the arguments for presumption on actions of the heart and also the legal necessity of attaining conscientious certainty regarding beliefs. In contrast, there are others who – while dividing belief-related issues into two types of those that require conscientious certitude and those that simply need commitment of the heart – believe that in the beliefs of the second type both thematic and edictive presumption applies but in case of the first type of beliefs only edictive presumption applies. The present research shows that because belief is a conscientious issue, doubt is belief itself is relieved by referring to the conscience and the application of presumption in belief itself is completely meaningless. There is also no possibility for the occurrence of doubt in the remaining and application of presumption in the belief-related rules in the subjective aspect because none of these types of rules have a temporal goal. But the application of the Principle of Presumption is both rationally as well as imminently possible in regards to beliefs, i. e. belief-related topics and issues.