Document Type : Biannual Journal
Authors
Abstract
The aim of this article is to explain possibility of Islamic Philosophy and describe its main characteristics and schools. Concerning the question of possibility and actuality of Islamic Philosophy, our approach in the article is that the question has a historical nature. So, to answer questions like ‘is Islamic Philosophy possible?’ And if yes: ‘has it ever been actualized?’ should consider philosophy, in this historical development, as a progressive discipline which from its entrance into the Islamic world has been continuously changed. In the development process of this philosophy, a variety of perspectives, theories, issues, and problems have arisen, some of them have been placed in the core of the philosophical mainstream, and some of them have been laid aside or ignored. So, in this process, this discipline has experienced some philosophical expansions and contractions, has taken some theories, problems, issues …, and has laid away some other.
These changes and developments bring about a distinguished nature for Islamic philosophy. We can say that this discipline has three general and distinct characteristics: looking comprehensiveness (looking at physical and metaphysical worlds comprehensively); certainty (as a common core of knowledge); and God- oriented (regarding God as most importance being in the human life). In this paper, first of all, we will describe the main characteristics of main Islamic philosophy’s schools, Peripatetic, Illumination, and transcendent philosophy, and then argue that there is no inconsistency between ‘Islamic philosophy’ concept and open intellectual development.
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