Philosophy
neda salour; Mahin Sohrabi nasirabadi; Narges Nazarnejad
Abstract
IntroductionTraditional Persian arts, with all their aesthetic and semantic aspects, are derived from the Iranian culture, thought, and beliefs and are eminent manifestations of the notion of tradition for Iranians. Traditional designs with symbolic motifs and patterns constitute the foundation of traditional ...
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IntroductionTraditional Persian arts, with all their aesthetic and semantic aspects, are derived from the Iranian culture, thought, and beliefs and are eminent manifestations of the notion of tradition for Iranians. Traditional designs with symbolic motifs and patterns constitute the foundation of traditional arts. Such arts are mainly characterized by the artist’s reluctance to imitate the nature and his or her focus on abstraction and expression of symbolic concepts. If traditional motifs are measured and appraised in terms of the right criteria and principles, it turns out that they are not only non-repetitive but also fully ingenious and creative, and display themselves in the design through a refinement made in the artist’s mind. Such intellectual analyses prevailed in line with rationalistic theories that relied on reasoning and arguments since fourth century AH (tenth century CE) along with the prevalence of the rationalistic Peripatetic philosophy and then Avicenna’s theories of psychological faculties, particularly the human-specific rational or intellectual faculty. For Avicenna, the human intellect has degrees and it has the potential to move toward perfection. One comes to obtain the ability to connect to the Active Intellect (al-ʿaql al-faʿʿāl) or the Bestower of Forms (wāhib al-ṣuwar) by developing one’s intellect, and then enjoys its grace and emanation, in virtue of which one knows and understands the world and finds the ability for reasoning and acquisition of knowledge. Avicenna believes that imagination is directed at the intellect or reason, and the artist’s perceptions are of the same kind as intellectual intuition.Avicenna enumerates certain principles for the beauty of a work of art, suggesting that its beauty results from reason or intellect. The principles include good moderation, good synthesis (proportions), and good order. On the other hand, the method of drawing traditional motifs were transmitted to us through generations. The superficial aspects of traditional motifs are addressed in Dr. Ali Hasouri’s Foundations of traditional design, Dr. Abolghasem Dadvar’s Theoretical foundations of traditional arts (a collection of the views and theories of Muslim intellectuals about art and aesthetics from the perspective of Islamic philosophy and mysticism), and Dr. Yaghoub Azhand’s Seven decorative principles of Persian art (all in Persian). However, they fail to formulate the rules of formation in the method of drawing the motifs and the scientific criteria they involve. Perhaps they have taken these for granted, while an analysis and formulation of the roots and rational dimensions of the principles and rules of the traditional design can lead to creative motifs. Accordingly, preservation, revival, development, promotion, innovation, and a new discourse in the domain of traditional designs require a scientific and artistic underpinning, saturated with philosophical and intellectual grounds.Method of ResearchThe present research draws on the method of theory evaluation and an assessment of how Avicenna’s aesthetic principles corresponds to the rules of drawing the traditional motifs to present a theory about the rationalistic design of the rational traditional Persian vegetal motifs as the most fundamental and widespread motifs. The data were collected through a library-documentary method, and finally the findings are presented through a descriptive-analytic method.Discussion and ResultsThe method of drawing traditional vegetal motifs alone or alongside each other follows certain principles and rules, each of which is separately matched with Avicenna’s aesthetic principles, including:With respect to their aversion of nature, their abstraction, simplification, symbolism, and centripetalism (manifestation of unity and multiplicity), the motifs are expressive and have “good order”; that is, their parts are proportionate to, and harmonious with, the whole.The motion and dynamic of the motifs, their generativity and reproduction in varieties of frames and directions, the balance, proposition, and symmetry in design, the existence of a geometrical order among the parts, the existence of rhythm and harmony between the motifs and the design, variety in composition and frame, collation and replacement relations between motifs, and the correspondence with varieties of backgrounds, frames, and materials in the performance context are all in line with Avicenna’s definition of “good moderation” and order.Line value (intensity and mildness), which gives an impression of perspective in the two-dimensional space, equivalence of the positive and negative spaces (over and cover spaces), and the existence of the element of timelessness and placelessness in traditional designs indicate the “good synthesis” as well as the order and coherence in the design.For Avicenna, the principles of aesthetics (good synthesis, order, and moderation) are formulated based on knowledge, which is in turn a consequence of reason or intellect. Since the Avicenna’s aesthetic rules of traditional motifs are also in conformity with mathematical and geometrical proportions, it can be said to follow scientific criteria.ConclusionOur study shows that, first, the existence of order, coherence, and harmony between motifs as well as the proportion and balance within the design come from scientific criteria, which are induced by the intellectual faculty. Accordingly, once connected to the Active Intellect, the artist obtains an intuition, and after the stage of the imaginative faculty, he or she can reason by means of the intellectual faculty. Since the contribution and function of the imaginative and intellectual faculties vary at each stage of creating the design, the artist begins with senses, and then reaches the stage of imagination and abstraction until he or she attains the degree of intellection and reasoning to the point of innovation and invention in the field of art, particularly in drawing traditional vegetal motifs. This sort of intuition, which Avicenna calls “intellectual intuition,” as well as the match between the rules of the traditional design and Avicenna’s aesthetic principles, indicate the rationalistic character of the course of traditional motifs and the predominance of the intellectual faculty in the creation of innovative motifs.
azam ghasemi; arya younesi
Abstract
There is a will which is attributed to Razi which have been a controversial topic from ancient times until now. Preferring Qur’anic method to theology and philosophy, some scholars, such as Ibn Emad Hanbali and Fathalla Kholeif, think of that as a kind of repentance from rational discussion. There ...
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There is a will which is attributed to Razi which have been a controversial topic from ancient times until now. Preferring Qur’anic method to theology and philosophy, some scholars, such as Ibn Emad Hanbali and Fathalla Kholeif, think of that as a kind of repentance from rational discussion. There is a statement which is apparently narrate by Ibn Salah, quote Razi’s word that he regretted studying theology and philosophy; that he said: “I regretted studying theology (Kalam)” and then he wept. This quote support former interpreting. We proved, in this paper, that that interpretation is not authentic and the meaning and purpose of it is different; thus it is not a kind of repent, but rather it is a moderate rationalism (opposite to both classical rationalism and fideism), which he held in his life and could be found in his works. And, it is showed that what is quoted from Ibn Salah is not reliable; because could not be found in Ibn Salah’s works, perhaps it is a transited saying from him. Those writers, who quoted from Ibn Salah, a few centuries after him; thus it is not acceptable. Therefore, this narration is not authentic. This story is important, because it targeted reasoning in Fakhr system of thoughts; if it is true, then it shows that Kalam is not in harmony with real, orthodox Islam, as those who mentioned it maintain. But if not true, it shows that Razi did not believe that theology (Kalam) is not a real part of Islamic sciences. As a matter of historic facts, there is not an authentic source for the story. Therefore, it seems that someone made it up to justify their fanatic, extremist, fundamental interpretation of Islam, in which they have not tolerated any kind of reasoning, including Islamic theology (Kalam), the field of study that Razi well represent. For Ash’ari scholars like Fakhr Razi, reasoning is a useful, discursive tool to assess and study claims and beliefs, and particularly to defend religious doctrines. However, their attitude toward reasoning and intellect (Aql) itself is far from their Mu’tazali opponents. While Mutazalis see reasoning as a source for inferring truth, their Ash’ari opponents see it as a tool to assess claims, interpreting holy texts, including Qur’anic verses. On the other hand, for Fakhr’s part, in the will we could find him in a mediocre rationality position. He stated that what he discussed in his life was not of stubbornness, carelessness or recklessness, but just for the sake of reason. In other works he can be seen committed to Quranic verses and holy texts, beyond reasoning as a source superior to the text; so to speak, he only used reasoning for understanding; and that he put the “Quranic method” on the top of the list, do not imply that he denied reasoning and respective fields of study totally. But a few figures, like Ibn Emad al-Hanbali or Kholief, saw it as a kind of repentance of discursive methods, which is impossible to justify such a position. As to Razi we could see that he had held such a position in his whole career, as he had scrutinized philosophical doctrines, assessing every claim, and always put the Quran on the top of everything else. Therefore, to say Razi repented Kalam is not a valid, authentic conclusion.
Mohsen Habibi; Ali Sadeghinejad
Abstract
Virtue ethics is one of the normative ethical theories that, unlike deontological theory or utilitarianism, emphasizes on virtuousness. Ibn Miskawayh’s virtue ethics is influenced by Aristotle, and Michael Slot is influenced by Hume's views. A comparison between these two theories reveals the similarities ...
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Virtue ethics is one of the normative ethical theories that, unlike deontological theory or utilitarianism, emphasizes on virtuousness. Ibn Miskawayh’s virtue ethics is influenced by Aristotle, and Michael Slot is influenced by Hume's views. A comparison between these two theories reveals the similarities and differences of their different readings of virtue. The role of Happiness in virtue ethics is one of the differences. In explaining virtue ethics Ibn Miskawayh emphasizes happiness while Slote rejects it. While rationalism has a fundamental place in the theory of Ibn Miskawayh, there is no such a place for it in the emotivist view of Slot. Altogether, Ibn Miskawayh’s theory is more coherent and logical due to its emphasis on happiness and rationality. Slote's emphasis on emotivism is one of the weak points of his theory which has false consequences.
