فصلنامه معرفت فلسفی
سال سوم شماره 4 (پیاپی 12، تابستان 1385)

By suggesting the theory of substantive motion, Ṣadr al-Din Shīrāzi deepens the issue of motion to metaphysical depths, very further than what was once imagined in the past. He stops neither at the sense perception of apparent motions, nor at mystical and poetic tastes. He rather establishes the universal and fundamental motion of the material world through a variety of arguments on the basis of an ontology marked by the essentiality of existence. Then he presents helpful answers to many complex philosophical questions.This article is the result of some reflections on this theory and some scrutiny about its arguments and results. The outcome of these reflections is some remarks and questions that the author hopes taking them into consideration may help philosophers in deepening and advancing the issue further.

The issue of differentiation between various branches of knowledge and its criteria are discussed in a variety of academic disciplines. This article suggests that the differentiation between different theorematical disciplines is determined on the basis of their subject matters, and these disciplines study solely the essential accidents of their subject matters. To establish this issue, the author defines a theorem as a syllogism that culminates in certainty. Then he explains about the reality of certainty, and makes some clarifications about essential accidents. And he claims a real unity among theorematical disciplines. The article ends with a discussion on the descriptive or normative nature of sciences.

Esoteric senses are rarely discussed from an epistemological perspective, and hence the difficulty of discrimination between their ontological aspect from their epistemological one. However, one can find epistemological material amongst what is said in this regard. The author in this article begins with a definition and classification of the "esoteric senses", and has an overview on "common sense" and its repertory, and the domain and functions of "fantasy". Then he examines different aspects of "imagination" as a cognitive faculty, especially its errency and inerrancy. In the second part, the author discusses about memory, its domain, its functions, its quality, and the reliability of its outcome. He thinks that memory produces no certain knowledge, but it is a secondary way or instrument for preserving knowledge. It reproduces knowledge in the mind by recalling them. Whenever there is a slightest doubt about our conclusions in our mind, we can review and assess their arguments, and hence, reaffirm their accuracy. A mere reliance on memory is not immune from erring.

Dun Q Pite, as a journalist and a priest, has radical ideas about the reliability of science, and on this ground rejects the cognitive character of religion and its teachings. In his studies, he runs into lots of contradictions, commits fallacies, and forgets about academic fairness. He talks about religion as a kind of mythology, and introduces religious teachings as some sort of magic and spell. Despite the fact that his studies are merely focused on Christianity, but he unjustifiably generalizes the results to all religions, including Islam. Almost all his approaches and theories about religion and its relation to science are fundamentally criticized. This article is an example of such critical approaches to his writings.

The doctrine of natural law has a long history in the realm of human thinking. It comprises a wide range of theses and has played a central role in different fields of social studies from the time of ancient Greek. In spite of various interpretations of natural law during many centuries, there have been common and constant principles on which all such theories have been based: 1.These principles are objective, not subjective. 2.They depend on the nature of the universe or mankind.3.They are, in themselves, recognized as rational foundations for moral judgments and can be the bases of all social studies disciplines.Natural law is far from anything we conceive as man-made. It is considered to be a rule of life given by human nature or the nature of the universe. Natural law theories are classified into ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ ones. The former is divided into three large groups: Classical, Roman, and Christian (middle ages) traditions. This article briefly examines natural law theory in its traditionally classical version.