فصلنامه حکمت اسلامی
پیاپی 34 (پاییز 1401)

From among the proposed meanings and interpretations for the cognitive authority of the Qur'an, is its significant impact on a discipline of knowledge both outside (such as principles and method of that discipline) and inside (such as issues and current theories in that discipline).Having adopted an analytic-descriptive method, the author goes to study the influence of the revealed and Qur'anic teachings on philosophical method. Not only does he explain the indexes of philosophical method, but also goes to demonstrate that this method (proof and certitude) is approved by the Qur'an; it is not the only method for discovering the truth, though. Accordingly and inspired by the Qur'anic teachings, Muslim philosophers have criticized the limitations of the intellect and talked about the cognitive value of revelation and spiritual visions, and have not confined the way of discovering the truth to logical reasoning or Aristotelian method.

In Kant's philosophy, the concept of "transcendental" is so important that he has coined such a term as a core index for his philosophy to distinguish his in contrast to other philosophical systems. Professor Fatemi has tried to base his view about the theoretical principles of human rights on Kant's philosophy considering the concept of "transcendental man" as the fundamental condition for the realization of contemporary human rights. The concept of "transcendental man" in professor Fatemi's system of thought seems far cry from that in Kant's philosophy. Accordingly, his efforts to do that are open to a major objection. Failing to consider the wide range of this concept in the light of Kant's Copernican Revolution and system of transcendental idealism, professor Fatemi has adopted a pre-Kantian approach to use the term which entails an approach of substance to man neglecting the transcendental conditions of the subject. This is while, the concept of "transcendental" in Kant's philosophy concerns terms of the possibility in the light of subjectivism and has no relation to professor Fatemi's attitude towards "transcendental man" as an abstract man along with no accident.

A sound lifestyle depends on doctrinal and philosophical principles such as rationality, spirituality, moderation and the like. With Western scholars, rationality is interpreted as a means for meeting material needs, capitalism, negation of metaphysical power, opposing religion and religious devotion; therefore, it cannot be used as the foundation for a sound religious lifestyle. However, were rationality regarded transcendent and comprehensive, it would lead to a progress in all dimensions of individual and social lifestyle thus to the realization of Islamic civilization.     In their paper, the authors have explained transcendent rationality and its deference from current rationalities. The characteristics of such rationality are clarified at three levels. At the cognitive level, they are: maximum use of the sources of knowledge, truth-centeredness, security, peace and certainty, the authority of logical rules, consideration of well-founded science-data, the choice of best explanation, reliance on self-evident knowledge, and demarcating borders between the scope of experience and the revealed and philosophical teachings. At the moral level, they are: a wide system of values, internal coherence, capability of rational explanation, considering both good act and good intention of the agent, and that the system of values is hierarchical. At the instrumental level and livelihood, they are: purposefulness, the choice of proper means for aims, the choice of rationality in the case of different probabilities, considering the expected profits, and moderation. The adopted method is analytic-descriptive.

Having believed in Darwin's theory of evolution, the contemporary biologist and animal behaviorist, Richard Dawkins has tried to present a naturalistic and atheistic account of the theory during several decades thus basing atheism upon evolutionism. His strongest support for such an account is natural selection which he considers as a clue to decipher the mystery of being, invincible though blind, bereft of any orientation, in an accumulated way, along with some sort of luck, and based not on intelligence or awareness. In his paper, the author goes to study and assess Dawkins' view and arguments.The upshot of this research is Dawkins' many mistakes in his very claims, arguments, results, and at last his failure in imposing his naturalistic metaphysics on the evolution theory thus his so-called scientifically atheistic explanation. Furthermore and contrary to Dawkins' assumption, not only the theory of evolution is compatible with monotheistic approach, but also divine and wise calculations are the best explanation and infrastructure for the cognitive value of evolution theory.

As per the causal necessity rule, Muslim philosophers are of the view that every human voluntary act does not happen unless it reaches the point of necessity. Some scholars, however, go to hold that the necessity of an act is incompatible with free will; resorting to human free will as self-evident, they denied the necessity within human voluntary act and its principles. In their view and in order to embrace true free will, one should separate the causal necessity rule from the analysis of principles of voluntary act. Prior to every phase of the process of voluntary act, every man is to be regarded thoroughly free in both doing the very act and how to do it.  From one side, one cannot deny the role and significance of free will in the philosophical analysis of human behavior in humanities and social studies, and from another side, we might not be disregarded causality and causal necessity as the important and close to self-evident issue of philosophy. Accordingly, in their paper, the authors have tried to look into whether free will is compatible with causal necessity from a new angle and to prove that they are not incompatible.

In contemporary epistemology, sense-data signify direct sense-perception reported by the first person singular and in the present time. The most important issue about it is whether one can justify its content. The justification for sense-data is challenged by a dilemma that makes the issue spin over whether it is conceptual or none-conceptual.In their paper, the authors have first demonstrated that some part of the dispute comes from the ambiguity of the application of the term and that its ontological position is not clear nor is it agreed upon. Then, relying on epistemological principles of Mulla Sara's philosophy, they have argued that the none-conceptualized contents of sense-data are the necessary prerequisite for the realization and fulfilment of the cognitive role of concepts. Since this content is not conceptualized and is thus presential knowledge -other than conceptual knowledge-, the outcome view would be an instance of none-conceptualism. In this view and in order to come free from strong skepticism and to defend rationality of empirical knowledge, we have resorted to an introspective definition of justification in which sense-data play a major role in representing the outside world. In the end, we have shown that such imperfect knowledge is far from absolute ignorance as to the world outside and from solipsism.

In what follows, adopting a library-software method in collecting data and critical-analytic method in processing, the author aims to study and criticize views and arguments about the Adam's Fall and ascension. Having explained the concepts of Adam and Fall, he goes to deal with two major views and goes on to draw the conclusion that -contrary to the views of some Muslim scholars and exegetes- not only there is no contradiction between the Fall and ascension, but also the only way for Adam's ascension to his perfection is his Fall onto this earth. He has rationally argued for the principles of Muslim philosophers and mystics' views about the Fall and human dignity and undermined the principles of the opposite views. He has also demonstrated that Adam's Fall was not entailed by legal disobedience or abandonment of what is more worthy or expulsion from Eden. On the contrary, the issue of Fall required the expansion of the ontic rays of Adam and his use of existing means in this material world for his ascension.

One factor of the promotion of spirituality and morality is the criterion of moral act in the Islamic school of moral thought (voluntary proximity to Allah) required by both the very good act and good intention of the agent. When good intention of the agent, i.e. the sincere intention, is there, the action will be undoubtedly accepted; and it will be rejected, otherwise. If the intention of proximity were impure, the act would be rejected according to the apparent meaning of some traditions such as "I am a good partner". If that were the case, most people would fail to attain perfection happiness and Allah's pleasure left alone in despair, and Islam would be a cause of strait. This is what we mean by the difficulty of good intention of the agent.In their essay and adopting a descriptive-analytic method, the authors have proposed four solutions: 1- "a close look into the concept of partnership"; 2- "dealing with the quality of the act"; 3- "embracing the difficulty but counterbalancing it through divine mercy or the intercession of infallible saints"; and 4- "that the stages of proximity is graded".

As a philosophical question covering issues such as whether dimensions of the world are finite or infinite, the possibility of indivisible part, the possibility of an infinite thing, whether time and temporal past incidents are finite or infinite, and regressio ad infinitum in the chain of causes and effects, "Ad infinitum in actu" has since long caught the attention and disputes of scholars. Some of them have argued for the possibility and some for the impossibility of it. There are others who considered the arguments of both sides inadequate and thus remained silent about the issue. Following Kantor's efforts, it was embraced that "Ad infinitum in actu" is neither provable nor refutable logically. Having embraced that mathematics of infinitum in actu cannot be proved nor can it be decided about and that it is far from mathematics of finitude, at last ad infinitum in actu was accepted as one postulate in the theory of postulates of sets.    In their essay showing that ad infinitum in actu is far from mathematical infinitum, the authors have suggested an argument to demonstrate that infinitum in actu is mathematically unprovable. It will become evident that mathematical arguments for the refutation of ad infinitum in actu (such as those of comparison, of the side and the middle, of ladder, and so on) are not real arguments, rather they are mere hints to more illuminate the consequences of the concept of ad infinitum in actu in the light of which one can decide about the possibility or impossibility of ad infinitum in actu.