AmirHosain MansouriNouri; Einollah khademi; leaila purakbar; Mahdi sanei
Abstract
Introduction: One of the most important questions for people today is what fact can properly justify their life. The question might be as old as the human history, but it was in the last 50 years that analytic philosophers dealt with it as a particular and independent question. Continental philosophers ...
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Introduction: One of the most important questions for people today is what fact can properly justify their life. The question might be as old as the human history, but it was in the last 50 years that analytic philosophers dealt with it as a particular and independent question. Continental philosophers might be deemed pioneers of the issue because they grappled with challenges of modernity for religiosity much sooner than analytic philosophers, although the latter are known for their more coherent treatment of the issue. Since they believe in God and in human servitude toward God, Muslim philosophers never saw the “meaning of life” as a considerable problem. However, since problems in the Western theological-philosophical tradition tend to find their way into the intellectual domain of Muslims, Muslim scholars need to provide relevant answers to the question and consider the factors contributing to it. In order to derive a theory from the Islamic tradition which can actively answer the questions about the meaning of life, we need to consider the work of Western intellectuals as inventors of the question, since without awareness of Western ideas we will be passively on the defensive, whereas after a careful consideration of their views, we can establish an independent theory drawing upon the inherent resources of the Islamic tradition. Research question: The present research seeks to answer the following question: “How does the belief in the possibility of knowing the divine essence affect the ‘meaning of life’ in Fakhr al-Rāzī’s view?” Research method: Here is the method of research in this article: First the required data are extracted from the relevant sources via a library research, then the data are coded and organized in accordance with the titles, and since the subject-matter of the article was not Fakhr’s problem, the data were analyzed and criticized through a particular reading. The main body of the article: For Fakhr, the meaning of life is indeed a desire for God in accordance with innate knowledge of Him. From Fakhr’s work, it is implied that he extended his conception of the “meaning of life” to the areas of utilitarianism and functionalism as well. Notwithstanding this, his entire analyses in other areas are also grounded in innate knowledge and desire. On this account, Fakhr’s reply to the main research question here—“ How does the belief in the possibility of knowing the divine essence affect the meaning of life”—will be as follows: Fakhr al-Rāzī, as a theologian, analyzes the innate desire for God in terms of sharia (Islamic jurisprudence), holding that knowledge of God provides the meaning of life. In the next step, Fakhr al-Rāzī as a philosopher puts the innate desire along with acquisition of discursive knowledge, extending the path to higher levels of wisdom which might be considered as philosophical-mystical. He characterizes rational knowledge in the first step and intuitive knowledge at higher steps as what organize the meaning of life. Finally, Fakhr al-Rāzī as a full-fledged mystic suggests that, by endorsing annihilation as a cognitive system, we can achieve knowledge of the divine essence, which will bring about a fundamental transformation in the “meaning of life,” since with any limitation at any level, the desire will be limited, but if we attribute unending knowledge to man, it will amount to saying that the desire to God is unending; that is, it will be deeper and finer with every higher step. In this case, the “meaning of life” will be more transcendental. Research conclusions: Here are the conclusions of this research: Fakhr applies the meaning of life to the areas of theory, utility, and function on the basis of innate knowledge and desire for perfection. Since Fakhr’s thought is based on knowledge, he believes that there are different degrees of knowledge: knowledge is, for him, a process that goes through different stages of rationalization, refinement (tahdhīb), and annihilation (fanā’). In his view, knowledge of the essence is not possible for man before the stage of annihilation. This is why, the desire for God will have its limits, relative to which the meaning of life will also be limited. Eventually, however, Fakhr al-Rāzī introduces annihilation as a cognitive system, in light of which he endorses the possibility of achieving knowledge of God’s essence. In this way, innate desire will cease to be limited, and with thin unlimited, unending desire the “meaning of life” will be at its highest.
Einullah Khademi; Abdullah Salavati; Leila Purakbar; Marveh Dolatabadi
Abstract
This essay seeks to explain Mulla Sadra's philosophical-mystical encounter with the problem of death. The main question of this study is the explanation of the truth of death and its aspects from Mulla Sadra’s point of view. In this article, we do not merely focus on the philosophical vision of ...
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This essay seeks to explain Mulla Sadra's philosophical-mystical encounter with the problem of death. The main question of this study is the explanation of the truth of death and its aspects from Mulla Sadra’s point of view. In this article, we do not merely focus on the philosophical vision of Mulla Sadra on death; rather, we explain the mystical views of Mulla Sadra, independently from his philosophical ideas, too. Thus, this research is innovative in its simultaneous explanation of the philosophical and mystical truth of death and its aspects from Mulla Sadra’s perspective. In his ontology, Mulla Sadra provides an account of the evolutionary course of the soul's development relying on such principles as principality of existence, the free trans-substantial motion, corporeal creation and spiritual survival of soul and specific multiplicity. He believes that human soul is of hierarchical degrees ranging from the mere deficiency to the ultimate perfection and precisely, the triple worlds of soul are associated with the triple ontological worlds and death happens in these worlds. Moreover, Mulla Sadra uses the principles of mystics, particularly the Knowledge of Names (ʿIlm al-ʾAsmāʾ), in order to analyze various aspects of the problem of death. The current study has been conducted based on the method of content analysis. Using this method, Mulla Sadra's encounter with death is investigated through exploration of the ontological factors as well as different aspects of death and its relation with evolution, eternity and life, and the analysis of foundations of death within the framework of Individual unity of existence and its gradational unity. Achievements of the current research are as follows:1) According to Mulla Sadra, death is a natural phenomenon which has its origin in the soul's turning her face away from the sensible world and paying attention to God and His Heavens. He describes death as the existential development of soul and believes that the soul, in the end of its evolutionary journey, enters the world of intellects and becomes united with Active Intellect and in higher stages with the First Intellect. Mulla Sadra opines that human’s otherworldly existence is the perfected form of his worldly existence and when the existential substance of the soul becomes intensified and strong and the soul reaches the last stage of its worldly existence, it departs its worldly existence and heads to the otherworld. In fact, the soul after death joins a superior existence, i.e. otherworldly existence, and gets existentially promoted.Moreover, in the system of existence unity, man is the manifestation of God's existential perfections that emerges under the decree of the Name "The First and The Manifest" (Al-Awwal and Al-Ẓāhir) and under the decree of the Name "The Last" (Al-Ākhir), he returns to go with all his perfections. But due to the existence of worldly veils before the death, man is deprived of a complete union with the Intellects and reaching God as well as being a perfect manifestation of Divine Perfections; thus, death provides the necessary context for understanding this union and achieving the existential perfections. 2) Based on his philosophical principles like principality of existence, gradational unity, the trans-substantial motion, and particularly the corporeal creation and spiritual survival of soul, Mulla Sadra proves that the soul enjoys a natural existence in the beginning of its occurrence; however, in the following, based on its free trans-substantial motion, it undergoes through essential evolution and joins the world of immaterial entities; finally, it changes into an incorporeal entity. In this situation, due to the essential simplicity of the soul, it is not annihilated and also the soul becomes eternal following its union with the divine intellects. According to Sadra, soul intrinsically seeks after eternity and hates annihilation; because the eternity is among the attributes of the superior entities (intellect); then, the soul is essentially interested in eternity and glorifies the highest modes.According to the individual unity of existence, soul is eternal as the manifestation of the Divine Eternity. Based on the knowledge of Names of mystics, the man is the manifestation of the decrees governing the world as long as he is in this world; after his going to the otherworld, the decrees of the Names of this world become dormant and the decrees of the Names of the otherworld prevail and he turns in to the manifestation of the Names governing the otherworld. Thus, the physical body and whatever else that exists in this material world is not annihilated with the death, rather it returns to dormancy state and its manifestation is gradually reduced. Therefore, death means transferring the manifestation of the Divine Names proportionate to the existential worlds for man.3) According to the philosophical thought of Mulla Sadra, life is co-extensive (Musāwiq) with existence [life and existence represent the same extension] and every being enjoys as much life as its existential breadth allows. Thus, human life is a function of his/her existential level (ontological plane) and the latter is in turn a function of one's perceptual level (rational level); with an intensive gradational evolution, man reaches the highest levels of existence, i.e. ideal existence; then, it reaches the intellectual existence, and as a result, he enjoys a more perfect and superior perception and life. Thus, human’s true life lies in his intellectual life and since the life in the otherworld is an intelligible and incorporeal life, death makes the transition to this level of life, possible.This goal can be achieved in this world; but its complete realization becomes possible via death and one's transmission to the world of incorporeity; because these existential worlds are purified of all types of diversity and material taints; as a result, the beings in it have an independent life and will enjoy the higher levels of life and its effects.Additionally, according to Mulla Sadra, in the system of individual unity of existence, existents are among the existential attributes of God. Since the life of God is true, original and eternal, the man, as the perfect manifestation of the Divine Presence, his life is corresponded with God’s life and by the relation with the Truth, it makes sense; also, according to the manifestation of the Names, he enjoys a higher level of life; however, since the highest level of life is the otherworldly life which is essential and true, man will understand the true meaning of life only with death and transmission to the otherworld.
