Author Archives: oneone76

Mulla Sadra espouses a doctrine which not only prioritizes existence over essence, but also establishes existence to be reality as such. The world and all its contingents are in fact one singular existence, and essence is a mere illusory mental construct. This has multiple implications, one of which being that no existent thing remains theContinue reading “Mulla Sadra”

Many thinkers believe that essence is fundamental, while existence is secondary, using both arguments and common-sense intuition to support their theory. They then use the cosmological argument to provide a proof of God on the basis of His essence. Since existence is secondary, the result is often a rigid ontology where essences do not change,Continue reading “Tabataba’i”

The Brethren of Purity, a group belonging to Ismailism, are known for highlighting the division between self and otherness. By representing a dialogue between animals humans, they created an opportunity for humans to step outside of their egocentric and anthropomorphic tendencies in order to confront the world of animals as a world completely separate fromContinue reading “The Brethren of Purity”

It seems that humans have a desire to understand everything, and yet we are continually confronted with questions and experiences which we are unable to grasp. The absurdity of our experiences, the inability to grasp the causes which precede us; all this could lead either to frantic pursuit of certainty, where all causes of confusionContinue reading “Maimonides and Negative Theology”

Ibn Arabi outlines his view of the spiritual journey as, among other things, a movement where one’s limitations and ideas of multiplicity are gradually removed until one recognizes the unbounded unity of all experience. To justify the possibility of such a movement, Ibn Arabi borrows the framework constructed by Avicenna, establishing in essence that GodContinue reading “Ibn Arabi”

According to Al-Ghazali, concepts are initially acquired through the apprehension of an object in the sensible realm. In fact, it is this direct apprehension which is regarded as the highest form of knowledge, presumably because it is the least motivated by subjective factors. This initial required contact with experience probably implies the impossibility of pureContinue reading “The pretence of reason”

Many would agree that being is characterized by a gradual intensification. That is to say that beings tend towards their own “self-perfection” on the path leading from birth until death. What this “perfection” entails seems context dependent, and it is the movement itself which I shall be concerned with. Where thinkers disagree is what exactlyContinue reading “Essence and Existence”

Jacques Lacan claimed that humans were brought up to view themselves as a lack. Within the conflict between the helpless child and the more complete adult figures surrounding it, arose an ingrained sense of deficiency. In a cry to rid themselves of this lack, the child identified with the possibility of becoming like the Other,Continue reading “Identity and Lack”

Al-Farabi views the process of intellecting an intelligible, or external object, as a movement from potentiality to actuality. The soul is the material faculty upon which abstracted forms are imprinted, and the potential intellect is the rational faculty. As the potential intellect intellects an intelligible and imprints it upon the material faculty, the material facultyContinue reading “Absurdity, perspective and Truth.”

Al-Kindi’s On the Means of Dispelling Sorrows attempts to demonstrate the breadth of philosophical thought by adopting it within the practice of healing one’s personal afflictions (3). To do this, he creates a division between things that are permanent and things that are transient, and suggests suffering to be a result of the soul’s attachmentContinue reading “Al-Kindi: Confusion and Knowledge”