مجله نامه مفید
پیاپی 68 (1387)

The source of explanatory gap is property dualism. Property dualism is shaped by the distinction between appearance and reality and was first introduced by Kripke. Thomas Nagel has also said that the reality of consciousness is dependent upon its subjective and qualitative properties while Levine proclaims the problem of explanatory gap or the question of how subjective consciousness arises from the physical structure of the brain. In Chalmer's view the hard problem of consciousness or the source of explanatory gap is the phenomenal property of experience. He represents three methodological principles that will provide the context for psychophysical law and solve the problem of explanatory gap. In this article, we consider the principles of Chalmers and then explain why Chalmers loses his commitment to the constraints and requisites of primary schemata of a given theory.

Various conceptions of deflationary theories of truth have been suggested since the beginning of the 20th century and have received significant attentions and support since then. This paper is an attempt to identify the proper criterion of counting a theory as a deflationist theory of truth. The claim that truth is not a property is often considered as the criterion of deflationism. Having argued that this criterion is not adequate, I have proposed a new criterion in its place. A theory should be considered deflationist, according to my criterion, if it implies that the questions to which the traditional theories of truth are supposed to provide answers should be dismissed. To set the stage for suggesting my criterion, I have, in the first part, surveyed these questions and then have explained why they have been considered significant.

Actualism is an ontological thesis that according to which the domain of actual objects is same as the domain of existent objects. There are different versions of Actualism and the one known as the Classical Actualism is adopted by Plantinga, Fine, Salmon, Deutsch and Menzel. The model of the Classical Actualism has a variable domain and its quantifiers are world¬–-restricted. Plantinga, in his account, adds the essences, as actual existing objects, to the domain of possible objects and tries to impart the role of possible objects to the actual ones. This approach has two main problems: first, the essences are not the purely qualitative properties and second, it fails to justify the "Barcan Formula" and Necessary Existence.

In metaphysics, Aristotle has provided three definitions of philosophy. 1. Philosophy is the science of first causes and principles 2. Philosophy is the science of studying being qua being 3. Philosophy is the science of studying first being. By examining the relevant texts we show there is no inconsistency between these definitions. Indeed, each definition explains one aspect of the essence of the metaphysics: being.

One of the most prominent philosophical issues in the books Ta‘līqāts by Fārābī and Ibn Sīnā is discussed in a chapter beginning with the title «understanding the truth of the things is not in man's capacity». In this chapter they examine the limits of human knowledge on his restricted view of the world. In this paper, I will discuss the special view through which those two great philosophers considered the issue of truth and its connection with the meaning of Sophia (Hikmat). This author's understanding of the ideas discussed in the treatises Ta‘līqāts is that man cannot recognize clearly truth of things by means of indirect knowledge and that every human being can only penetrate into it by means of direct knowledge, i. e., knowledge by presence, according to his possibilities. Thus, a new definition of Sophia is required which would be suitable to his abilities. Otherwise, what is in man's capacity as a man is love of Sophia (Philosophia) not Sophia itself. According to this view, man's happiness and perfection is no longer considered as to reach the truth. The reason for this is that such a reading is neither justifiable nor possible.

In this article, the author considers the views of Quentin Skinner, Michael Oakeshott, and Thomas Spragens on understanding political thought, and investigates the possibility of their integration.

Contrary to modern aesthetics, in Plato beauty is related to being. So, the essence of beauty should be envisaged in relation to being. For instance, beauty in Phaedrus is defined as radiation or splendor of the Good. From this follows that beauty is objective reality: a beautiful thing is not beautiful because one judges it to be so; it is beautiful in itself, independently of human mind.The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between beauty and being in Symposium and Phaedrus.