Conventionality of Qyuiddity in Allama Tabatabie’s View

In the discussion on principality of existence, Quiddity is a reality stated in answering to a question on the essence of something. Similarly, one of the meanings of conventionality is something that is not, primarily and essentially, the source of the effects of the external thing. Allama Tabatabaie calls this conventional quiddity the ‘limit of existence’. This can be interpreted in two ways: (a) quiddity is merely a concept that is abstracted from the ‘limit of existence’ in the context of the function of the mind; and (b) quiddity is the very ‘limit of existence’ acquired by the thing is the context of lack of existential perfections. The second interpretation is favored by Allama Tabatabaie, because he believes that quidditive concepts are direct reflections, conceptual realizations and mental existence of realities that have realizations in the external world; and, on the other hand, he believes both sides of the qualification exist in the place where the qualification itself exists. Accordingly, the second sense is meant by the statement that ‘quiddity is the limit for existence’.