Abstract
To differentiate between the laws of nature and accidental generalizations, we must adopt a view of necessity that is capable of being realized in relationships existing among natural objects. In neo-Sadraian Islamic philosophy, metaphysical necessity is accepted as part of the cause-effect relationship. This paper compares the neo-Sadraian interpretation of necessity and necessitarian theories about the laws of nature, particularly essentialism and universal theory. By resorting to specific forms al-shûrat al-naw’iyyah, the origin of the essential properties of natural objects, I argue that neo-Sadraians have proposed a perspective on metaphysical necessity that is epistemologically a posteriori.
Highlights
Speaking, there are two perspectives about modality, the precise concept of necessity, in contemporary analytic philosophy
To differentiate between the laws of nature and accidental generalizations, we must adopt a view of necessity that is capable of being realized in relationships existing among natural objects
The necessitarian views presented refer to the two theories. i.e., universals and essentialism. The former considers the necessary relationship between the universals and believes that physical necessity exists in the actualized world. The latter holds that necessity is rooted in the essential properties of natural objects and, because these properties exist in every possible world, it is a metaphysical necessity
Summary
There are two perspectives about modality, the precise concept of necessity, in contemporary analytic philosophy. By explaining the neo-Sadraian philosophical perspective, the present article seeks to investigate the relationship between the concept of necessity as developed in this philosophical school and the necessitarian theories of the laws of nature developed in contemporary analytic philosophy. Neo-Sadraian philosophy allows us to define necessity in nature using the concept of the “specific form” (al-shûrat al-naw’iyyah) of a natural object which makes up its essential properties This approach corresponds to an interpretation of essentialism about laws which attributes necessity to the. Metaphysical Necessity dispositional properties of a natural object This is ontologically opposed to the theory of universals but, from an epistemological perspective, it agrees with the other two perspectives in considering necessity to be a posteriori. These three perspectives will be compared in terms of the ontology and epistemology of necessity as well as with regard to their reflections on the state of law
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