The Recent Islamic Philosophy and the Principality of Existence

Numerous ambiguities surround the issue of 'principality of existence' in the contemporary Islamic philosophy in a way that some have considered it a verbal or fruitless conflict. On the contrary, some adherents of the principality of existence (such as Ayatollah Fayyazi and Mr. Ubudiyyat) have offered new interpretations and challenged the contemporary understandings of the issue. Ayatollah Fayyazi maintains that Mulla Sadra's principality of existence is consistent with true realization of quiddity. He has proceeded to prove his claim by offering detailed premises and discussions. Similarly, Mr. Ubudiyyat has prepared new insights in this issue by finding the roots of the issue in Suhrawardi's view. He maintains that although Mulla Sadra believes in principality of existence, he accepts the true existence of quiddity in another sense. In this article, the defects and drawbacks of these two interpretations are shown and then, by relying on the historical evolution of the arguments, a clearer and less defective image of the issue as well as the view of principality of existence is offered.