فصلنامه آیین حکمت
پیاپی 2 (زمستان 1388)

The present article attempts to study the language of religion and that of Quran as an important problems of theology and philosophy of religion. After conceptual explanation and the backdrop of linguistic problem, the author has a critical review on various views on religious language. Theories on religious language are generally divided into two cognitive and non-cognitive groups. The latter being originated from the Western thought is first critically considered and then the alternative view, i.e. cognitive theories are elaborated and finally the right view along with supporting arguments is explained. The supported view is that the language of Quran and that of Islam in general is the same as the common language of the rational people and is compatible with human primordial nature and thus was called the language of fitra i.e. primordial nature and guidance. That is to say the religious language and structure far from being imposed upon the human nature is utterly coherent and compatible with it. For the main and fundamental purpose of religion is to guide all humans throughout the ages in all walks of life everywhere. This ideal is possible and practical when the language of religion is of above-mentioned characteristics being not limited to any particular place and time. Such qualities are to be found only in language of fitra that is common ground for human cuture for all men in all times with which every man is familiar and enjoy.

The philosophical principle that “a thing comes into being only after it is necessitated” is proposed and proved with some arguments. According to this principle which is taken for granted the existence of effect is necessitated before its actualization with the totality of its cause. This is known as philosophical determinism. Islamic theologian, by contrast, totally reject the principle substituting “priority” for necessity. Meanwhile some Shi‛ite scholars of usul al-fiqh (legal methodologists) distinguishing between free agent and determined agent restricted the principle to the latter. The author’ view is in favor of legal methodologists’. It attempts to prove it analyzed both arguments for and against by philosophers and theologians.

One of important topics in logic and philosophy is the division of concepts. According to traditional logic and Islamic philosophy, concepts are divided into three types: essential intelligibles, logical secondary intelligible and philosophical secondary intelligible. The present article deals first with the views of Islamic philosophers on logical secondary intelligibles. In Western philosophical tradition Kant spoke of pure concepts of understanding or categories which are comparable with logical and philosophical secondary intelligible. This article attempts first to give an account of pure concepts of understanding in Kant’s view along with an examination of their properties, and then present a comparative study of his view with that of traditional logicians.

Miracles drew the attention of thinkers from different angles in the history of religions. Of especial importance, however, is the ontological glance of philosophers at miracles. That every effect requires a congruent cause is a intellectual philosophical law. On the other hand, the constituent element in miracle is its being “extraordinary” which makes it seem to be lack of any congruent cause thus being inexplicable event. Now the question is whether miracle has no cause in which case it is regarded as irrational, or has a cause but not of natural sort that is familiar and known by human beings or souls of Prophets are involved and act in producing miracles. Analyzing different sorts of miracles this article attributes them to unfamiliar natural causes as well as familiar unnatural ones and the influence of prophetic souls involved in bringing them about.

Language and meaning have drawn considrably the theoretical attension of philosophers part of which is the ontology of meaning. The author of this article is going to show that ontology of meaning as part of semantics, semiotics and hermeneutical speculation is not only of theoretical and philosophical concern but it has practical cosequences in the way we face with language and text and involves some recommendations and strategies in interprtations. The deconstructionist view on the nature of meaning as well as Ferdinand de Saussure's analysis of nature and origin of meaning along with the view of those who consider meaning as ontologically dependent on text or take any text basically devoid of meaning advocate the objective plurality of meaning are all the subject of critical examination of this article with a disscussion of the implications of these viewpoints in religious knowledge and exegisis of revealed texts.

Revelation is one of the most important doctrines of religion that draws attention of philosophers as any other thinkers. According to Islamic philosophy, the source of all knowledge and agent of its emanation is Holy Spirit or angel of revelation and the receiver of revelation is the intellectual faculty of Holy Prophet who due to his natural capacity and existential perfection can be united with Active Intelligence and thus receive the knowledge. The most important and controversial problem about revelation among Islamic philosophers is the way the angel of revelation could be seen. In Peripatetic system of Farabi and Avicenna Active Intelligence is identified with angel of revelation and its vision is understood as Prophet’s imagination reflecting the existential reality. By discovering the world of discontiguous Imagination or “suspended Archetypes” as Master of Illumination called it, Illuminationist and Transcendent theosophies, however, proved to be a turning point in philosophical explanation of revelation. According to this theosophical school angel of revelation is the greatest among horizontal dominant Lights and so the archetype of human soul with whom the pure soul of Prophet, having removed all material preoccupations and physical veils could be united and thereby receive the truths. Angel of revelation has manifestations in the Imaginal World that make it possible to be seen by the soul of Prophet. It comes down, as it were, from its intellectual and luminous reality and manifests itself in one way or another in the world of Imagination so that it could be seen by Prophet.

Theory of Transmigration drew the attention of thinkers since early times. It has remarkable consequences both in philosophy of soul and other philosophical debates, not to mention the theological consequences of it. Islamic thinkers, therefore, attempted a treatment of it along their philosophical lines and mainly tend to the idea if rational impossibility of it. Prepatatic philosophers too put emphasis on the impossibility of transmigration and sometime offered new versions of earlier arguments and in some cases presented new arguments. This article attempts to elaborate the view of Peripatetics on the theory of transmigration. It first take a glance at the history of transmigration doctrine, various attitudes, terminology used in dealing with different types of transmigration and finally the theoretical bases for the denial of the doctrine are examined. Consideration of their argument, the extent of their demonstrating force and the possible objects are all covered in this article.