Investigating Martyr Mutahhari’s Explanation of ‘Argument from Design’

Among the well-known arguments presented by Islamic thinkers – including Martyr Mutahhari – for proving God’s existence is the pseudo-philosophical argument of ‘order’. In explaining that argument, Martyr Mutahhari resorts to the principle of ‘probabilities’ to prove the order originated from the ‘ultimate cause’, regarding it as the tool of proving God for the natural world. He believes that ‘order’ as the result of agentive cause cannot prove God’s existence, and emphasizes the argument of ‘order’ is not related to the agentive cause. He presents, while criticizing the theological statement of argument of ‘order’, a philosophical statement of it, separating the argument of ‘guidance’ from the argument of ‘order’ with a special precision. He also explains the argument of ‘order’ on the basis of the principles accepted by previous scholars, considering as an incomplete statement of the argument. In the present study, we have tried to use a descriptive-analytical method to investigate the argument of ‘order’ in Martyr Mutahhari’s view to resolve some ambiguities in his introductions, definitions, and explanations by adducing his intellectual foundations in his works.