List of Articles Ali  Shirvani

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  1 - A Response to an Old Problem about Mulla Sadra’s Encounter with Suhrawardi’s Arguments on Denying the Pre-Existence of the Soul
  Ali  Shirvani Mojtaba  Afsharpour
  There are some disagreements among philosophers on the pre-existence of the soul, that is, the existence of the soul before joining the body, whether it is originated or pre-eternal. Mulla Sadra maintains that the soul – the soul qua soul – originates in the trans-subst More

  There are some disagreements among philosophers on the pre-existence of the soul, that is, the existence of the soul before joining the body, whether it is originated or pre-eternal. Mulla Sadra maintains that the soul – the soul qua soul – originates in the trans-substantial motion of the body (corporeal origination) through particular individuation. However, he agrees with its pre-existence and considers it to be a rational one. When discussing this issue, he investigates, criticizes, and rejects Suhrawardi’s arguments on denying pre-existence. The commentators of Mulla Sadra’s words have always asked the question of why he did not agree with Suhrawardi’s arguments on denying the soul’s pre-existence based on his own particular individuation so that they would appear unanimous with respect to this problem. At least, this is what one could understand from Suhrawardi’s words and arguments. Accordingly, some of the early and contemporary commentators criticized him and believed that his objections to Suhrawardi’s words were unfounded. In this paper, while briefly referring to the fundamental principles of Suhrawardi’s arguments and Mulla Sadra’s related criticisms, the writers explain the main reason why Mulla Sadra refused to accept Suhrawardi’s view about the pre-existence of the soul. Manuscript profile
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  2 - The Borderline between Gnosis and its Homogeneous Sciences
  Ali  Shirvani
  Gnosis is a familiar term which is frequently used in oral and written culture and has a wide range of meanings. This has resulted in some ambiguity in its various applications, particularly, in its recent usage including “pseudo-gnosis” and “newly developed schools of More

  Gnosis is a familiar term which is frequently used in oral and written culture and has a wide range of meanings. This has resulted in some ambiguity in its various applications, particularly, in its recent usage including “pseudo-gnosis” and “newly developed schools of gnosis”, as well as in discussions such as “the relationship between religion and gnosis”, “the relationship between the intellect and gnosis”, and “the relationship between philosophy and gnosis”. This paper is intended to determine the approximate borderline between gnosis (the science of theoretical gnosis) and philosophy as well as the difference between gnosis (the science of practical gnosis) and ethics through clarifying the meaning and concept of gnosis, distinguishing between practical and theoretical types of wisdom, and explaining the differences between them and the sciences of practical and theoretical types of gnosis. Manuscript profile
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  3 - A Study of the Concomitants of the Psychological Aspect of the Theory of Ideas: Controversy in Mulls Sadra’s Defense of Ideas
  Ali  Shirvani Fatemeh  Razizade
  The theory of Ideas is one of the important philosophical theories which has influenced the views of most philosophers in various periods, and many of them have confirmed or rejected it. The majority of Muslim philosophers have also had to investigate this theory and fi More

  The theory of Ideas is one of the important philosophical theories which has influenced the views of most philosophers in various periods, and many of them have confirmed or rejected it. The majority of Muslim philosophers have also had to investigate this theory and finally accept it in general. However, they have often interpreted it within the framework of their own philosophical system. Mulla Sadra believes that he has presented an interpretation of the theory of Ideas based on his own philosophical principles which is completely compatible with Plato’s intention. The question is, given the fact that the theory of Ideas is inconsistent with Mulla Sadra’s philosophical principles from many aspects, such as those related to his psychology, was his philosophical endeavor successful? The present research aims to provide an answer to this question through analyzing and exploring the psychological concomitants arising from this theory. Here, after a thorough investigation of the psychological dimensions and concomitants of this theory and explaining Mulla Sadra’s view and defense in this regard, the writers portray the inconsistencies between the psychological principles of the Transcendent Philosophy and the concomitants of the Platonic theory of Ideas while providing a general explanation of Sadrian psychology. Following this, they question Mulla Sadra’s strict defense of this theory. Finally, they conclude that Plato’s belief in the pre-eternity of the soul, his theory of reminiscence of knowledge, and the restriction of his psychology to rational immateriality and its separation from corporeal body, versus Mulla Sadra’s theory of the corporeal origination of the soul and his belief in the acquisition of knowledge and the copulative existence of the soul are among the most important differences between the philosophical schools of these two philosophers. As a result, any attempt to reconcile their views with each other would be futile. Manuscript profile
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  4 - A Critical Study of Fayyadi’s Formulation of ‘Allamah Tabataba’i’s Argument of the Righteous
  Ali  Shirvani
  The argument of the righteous (burhan-i siddiqin) is the name of a kind of argument in which the middle term is the absolute being or reality itself. ‘Allamah Tabataba’i has a specific interpretation of this argument that has been formulated in different ways. In this p More

  The argument of the righteous (burhan-i siddiqin) is the name of a kind of argument in which the middle term is the absolute being or reality itself. ‘Allamah Tabataba’i has a specific interpretation of this argument that has been formulated in different ways. In this paper, the writer explains Fayyadi’s formulation of ‘Allamah Tabataba’i’s argument of the righteous and then criticizes it. Here, the writer also demonstrates that this formulation is in contrast to the surface meaning of ‘Allamah’s words. Moreover, he argues that it has remained essentially unfinished and cannot be considered a successful interpretation of the argument of the righteous. Manuscript profile