Metaphysical Principles Research Articles

Leo Schaya Bağlamında Tasavvufta İçsel Dönüşüm

Leo Schaya [Sidi Abdul-Kuddus] (1916-1986), a member of the traditionalist school, is a significant researcher and author of the 20th century who carried out in-depth studies particularly on Islamic Sufism and Jewish mysticism. Born in Switzerland into a non-religious Jewish family, Leo develops a deep interest in Sufism to study Islamic mysticism following his encounter with Frithjof Schuon [Īsā Nūr al-Dīn] (1907-1998), a distinguished representative of Islamic spirituality in the West. He turns to Schuon, whom he values for his spiritual journey and sees as an experienced guide. He converts from his current religious belief and joins the Shadhiliyya order. As a result of his warm and visionary nature, during his travels, he gains knowledge about Islamic tradition and Sufism through his relationships with famous masters of Sufism such as Shaikh Muhammad at-Ta'dīl (d. 1371/1952) and Sufi thinkers like Titus Burckhardt [Sidi İbrahim] (1908-1984), who conducted theoretical studies on eastern doctrine. He perceives mystical teachings as a journey into the depths of the heart and soul in pursuit of a transcendent reality and truth. He sees them as a guide for human spiritual development and getting closer to Allah, representing the internal dimension of Islam. In his theory, overcoming the self or controlling ego-centered thoughts, the process of reaching divine love and truth, discovering one's true potential, killing one's self in this world of multiplicity to bring out the divine light within, and recognizing one's essence are all important. Furthermore, in the studies in which Schaya put his thoughts into writing, he associates certain Sufi concepts with other metaphysical principles and emphasizes the existence of a universal metaphysical understanding. The aim of this study is to analyze Leo Schaya's Sufi thought from a traditionalist perspective, to understand and evaluate the universal dimension he puts forward regarding Islamic tradition and mysticism. In other words, it is to investigate how Schaya's Sufi teachings provide guidance in the inner journey of humans and to delve into the universal dimension of his thoughts. For this purpose, document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, has been used to examine the author's mystical teachings, and the data related to the subject has been collected. This data, categorized according to specific characteristics or themes, formed the general framework of the text. Schaya's inner teachings offer significant information on topics such as societal dynamics, spiritual interactions, and relationships between universal religious teachings. It is also seen that Schaya, rather than fully adopting the doctrines of traditionalist school pioneers, is in the effort to shape his own spiritual vision in an original way.

Jugement de séparation et sujet de la métaphysique

With this second dialogue, Salviati wants to remove Simplicio’s difficulties on the actual distinction of essence and being as well as on the notion of the act of being (actus essendi). Feeling that he had skipped stages in their first dialogue, he suggests going back to the determination of the exact subject of metaphysics according to Thomas Aquinas. He will progress in two steps: the transition from «first perceived being» to «common being» or «being as being» by a judgment of separation, and then the definition of the subject of metaphysics as «being negatively or neutrally immaterial». With this conclusion, Salviati intends to lead Simplicio to understand the autonomy of the principles of metaphysics towards philosophy of nature. Simplicio remains curious but dubious. Is not the negatively immaterial being a simple dialectical notion that Salviati would take for a metaphysical one? Is the independence of metaphysics from physics therefore also ensured? And consequently, is there actually a difference between the first perceived being and the common being, subject of metaphysics? What is, actually, the subject of metaphysics?

Islamisasi Pengetahuan Syed Naquib Al-Attas dan Ismail Al-Faruqi

Echols and Hasan Sadily stated that the term "Islamization" comes from the English word "islamization", which means "to convert." When someone hears the word "Islamization of Science", some people feel that certain knowledge is not in accordance with Islam, so it must be Islamized. The two main figures, Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas and Ismail Raji Al Faruqi, are usually the center of attention when people talk about the Islamization of science. In terms of epistemology, al-Attas and al-Faruqi agree that science is not value-free but bound by values that are considered true. They also agree that science has the same goal, and its conception is based on the principles of metaphysics, ontology, epistemology, and axiology with monotheism as the key. While there are many similarities between the two, they differ in several fundamental ways. To achieve the success of the goal of Islamization, al-Attas places more emphasis on the subject than knowledge, namely humans, by cleansing the soul and adorning it with commendable qualities, so that the process of Islamization of knowledge will result in personal transformation as well as spiritual and Islamic Islam as a whole. However, al-Faruqi put more emphasis on the subject intended to be Islamized, namely the discipline itself.

The Porretani on truth and propositional meaning

ABSTRACT This paper discusses a conception of truth and propositional meaning that was developed in the second half of the twelfth century by the followers of Gilbert of Poitiers, the Porretani. I begin by outlining some basic metaphysical principles that underlie the propositional semantics of the Porretani. I then go on to consider the Porretanean account of truth and of the truth-predicate, and argue that the Porretani subscribe to a form of deflationism about truth. Then, I turn to the Porretanean view of propositional meanings or ‘assertables’ (enuntiabilia), as they call them. After elucidating the crucial claim that an assertable is a composition or a division, I go on to address the question of the ontological status of assertables. I argue that the Porretani endorse a form of deflationism about propositional meaning. For they maintain that assertables, although indispensable to logical inquiry, are not real entities. I conclude by presenting a discussion on assertables contained in an unedited tract dating probably from the beginning of the thirteenth century. Like the Porretani, the author of the tract identifies assertables with compositions and divisions. However, he interestingly takes the theory in a new direction by introducing the concept of negative relation.

Plato on False Judgment in the Theaetetus

abstract: Under what conditions would it be paradoxical to consider the possibility of false judgment? Here we claim that in the initial puzzle of Theaetetus 187e5–188c9, where Plato investigates the question of what could psychologically cause a false judgment, the paradoxical nature of this question derives from certain constraints and restrictions about causal explanation, in particular, from the metaphysical principle that opposites cannot cause opposites. Contrary to all previous interpretations, this metaphysical approach does not attribute to Plato any controversial epistemological assumptions and fits better with the text and its role within the dialectic of the dialogue.

Formless Matter in Gersonides’ Cosmology

Abstract Gersonides has at times been viewed as an essentially orthodox Aristotelian in his metaphysical views. This designation, however, has been challenged on a number of grounds. This paper examines the way in which Gersonides revises the traditional conception of hylomorphism by positing that matter can exist without form. Motivated by a desire to reconcile Aristotelian natural philosophy with the Ptolemaic astronomical model, formless matter is seen as a necessary entity to posit in order for his cosmological model to be coherent. By allowing for this exception case, Gersonides turns hylomorphism from a metaphysical principle to a general, though not universal, principle of physics that can must be revised if other observational and philosophical commitments are to be maintained, which speaks to a distinct attitude toward Aristotelian metaphysics than is otherwise assumed to be the case for Gersonides and his contemporaries.

Black Muslims and the Angels of Afrofuturism

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size AcknowledgmentsHeartfelt thanks to Abbas Rattani, Shimul Chowdhury, and Yusuf Siddiquee,organizers of the AlHamdu/Muslim Futurism project where this work was first presented. Heartfeltthanks to the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art's Building Bridges initiative for supporting this work. And heartfelt thanks to the Sun Ra estate, Ihnfinity corporation, and Amina Baraka—as well as Camae Ayewa, Chelle Barbour, Antoinette Jackson, Jenn Nkiru, Tariq Touré, and Vanessa Taylor—for permissions, encouragement, inspiration, grace, and future consciousness.Additional informationNotes on contributorsEllen McLarneyEllen McLarney is Director of the Duke Islamic Studies Center and Associate Professor of Arabic Culture working on two interrelated projects: one on “Black Muslims and Racial Justice in the American South” and another a Doris Duke Foundation’s Building Bridges initiative featuring Muslim American poets and musicians of African descent. The aim is engaging in reckoning, consciousness raising, and reconciliation through the arts while raising awareness about anti-Black and anti-Muslim bias in the North Atlantic.Solayman IdrisSolayman Idris’s Times of the Signs trilogy applies metaphysical principles, strategic planning and grand design to African American global futures. Idris’s New World Mahdist Literatures politicize weapons of spiritual war and call for establishment the newest continental African Nation State, “Orun,” as reparations for American Descendants of Slaves. A literary Ark of the Covenant Sunrise in the West, StarLogic, and Dusk Orientalis tell us how we got here and guide Us to where We’re going …

The Ethics of Monadic Identity in Leibniz's Thought

The system of pre-established harmony proposed by Leibnizian ontology gives perspective to a Universe thought of as a perfect machine, or as a "perfect kingdom, governed by an absolute Prince". In this „best of all possible worlds”, the occurrence of evil requires an extremely thorough justification. With regard to the prospective motivation and argument in favor of existence of evil in the world, the ethical positioning of the human soul, conceived of as a superior monad, capable of true understanding and a reflection of divine grace, can also be outlined. What place, therefore, does evil occupy in the Leibnizian universal equation and how is it possible to embody it from the perspective of free will? In a system of such predetermined order, what possibility is there for the existence of freedom? In this universal order, what place does absolute necessity, hypothetical necessity and moral necessity occupy? And what is their connection with the essential cosmic logical, geometrical and metaphysical principles? Do reason, will, and power, as absolute features of the Godhead, contribute to guaranteeing the ethical responsibility of higher monads? How does Leibniz bring together the predetermination and typology of fatality expressed through the paradigms: fatum mahometanum, fatum stoicum and fatum christianum? "Divinity as the first agent and man as the patient and second agent" - is a Leibnizian interpretation of the relation of predetermination. Evil and free will are recognized only in the framework of hypothetical necessity. So, therefore, in the present work we will analyze, among other things, the Leibnizian interpretation of the ratio of predetermination, recalling the difference between being inclined and being forced in making a decision.

Being as Absolute Beginning: Metaphysical Considerations Regarding the Gifted Character of Being Ex Nihilo

The metaphysical crisis that Western thought is going through—whose main sign is nihilism—can be overcome through an understanding of the finite being that, precisely understood as ex nihilo, excludes nothingness from itself. This paper analyzes the notion of being ex nihilo and its real dynamism through the contributions provided by the metaphysics of the gift. The origin of being ex nihilo as donatio essendi is addressed first; we then move on to a reflection of finite being as given and absolute beginning. In this paper, I will aim to show that (§1) the notion of donatio essendi is a radical way of conceiving being as an absolute novelty that safeguards God’s freedom while securing the proper novelty of created being, (§2) then illustrate how created being is an absolute gift wholly dependent on the divine being, especially if the created being is a person, and (§3) finally, explain how these theses are compatible with an existential interpretation of the actus essendi according to the first principle of metaphysics, i.e., being as noncontradiction.

Gandhi’s Compassionate Cosmopolitan Ethics and Global Poverty

In the post-Rawlsian world many liberal cosmopolitan philosopher and theorists have been trying to argue that love, emotion, sentiments and empathy are needed to ensure justice in this broken world. Some of them like Martha Nussbaum, Graham Long etc. have attempted to theorise on Emotion and sentiments within cosmopolitan traditions. I argue that empathy, love and sentiments are European ideas and sometimes become problematic for the reason that they do not get out of the problems of “binaries”----primarily the binary of the self and others. In my view, liberal cosmopolitans have failed to understand the ontological and metaphysical significance of the non-duality which was central to the Gandhi’s understanding of cosmopolitanism. In Gandhi’s theory of cosmology there is no difference between the self and other, they are not placed in tension with each other rather they complement each other and are essentially interdependent. This article humbly attempts to explore the possibilities of an alternative conception of cosmopolitanism based on universal morality through Gandhi’s idea of non-violence and compassion. It probes into the possibility of universal morality of Ahimsa (non- violence) and Karuna (compassion) and argues that it is not plausible to think of it without any metaphysical supposition that we all have the same Atman. It also examines and criticizes the Western notion of cosmopolitan morality based on human fellowship without any metaphysical principle. Unlike moral cosmopolitanism, compassionate cosmopolitanism does not focus primarily on the duty rather it goes deeply into understanding the human nature and virtue--what kind of person we are and how we feel about other fellow human? It enquires into the kind of emotional attachment exists or required between fellow humans.

Принципы метафизики как основания физики

The author’s generation was taught a negative attitude towards metaphysics, which was interpreted as an idealistic, outdated, even harmful teaching. At pre­sent, the attitude towards metaphysics is changing significantly. Moreover, the modern development of fundamental physics forces metaphysics to return a key role in the understanding of the world. The article presents arguments in­dicating the relevance of the revision of ideas about the foundations of funda­mental physics. The solution to this problem corresponds to a topic that has long been attributed to metaphysics. Nowadays there is little recognition of the importance of metaphysics – the time has come to formulate the key principles of metaphysics on the basis of the achievements of physics (and not only) and follow them in the formation of new foundations of fundamental physics. The text of this article provides a justification for this statement in connection with the urgent problem of revising the foundations of physics according to an “unusual plan for many”. The analysis of the current state of physics made it possible to identify key metaphysical principles, and also forced us to ad­dress the problem within the framework of a relational approach to physics, the ideas of which were laid down in the works of G. Leibniz and E. Mach. It is noted that by now a mathematical apparatus has already been developed, which made it possible to begin solving the problem on the basis of a rela­tional-metaphysical approach to physical reality. The main features of this ap­paratus are briefly characterized and the results of a fundamental nature al­ready obtained are shown.

Arguments for the existence of God: The discourse of Russian religious philosophy

The article presents the topic of arguments of the existence of God in the works of Russian religious philosophers of the second half of the 19th — the first half of the 20th century. This topic is found in the discourse of Russian religious philosophy in three variants: putting forward arguments for the existence of God, analysis of Kant’s criticism of the proofs for the existence of God, statements about the meaninglessness of the proofs for religious consciousness. In all variants, there is an inextricable connection between Russian philosophers’ argumentation and their metaphysical propositions. The discourse of Russian religious philosophy itself should be considered a way of contextual demonstration of the significance of metaphysical propositions for religious consciousness. The topic was not only a moment of strengthening the epistemological status of religious knowledge in relation to scientific knowledge, but it had also the importance of philosophizing to form religious worldview. Using the examples of the analysis of both the proofs of the existence of God and their criticism, which is found in the works by S.N.Bulgakov, V.I.Nesmelov, V. S. Solovyov, E.N.Trubetskoy, B.N.Chicherin, and S.L.Frank, the pragmatics of their discourse is revealed — it was aimed not at finding some new ways to substantiate the existence of God with rational means, but at substantiating the necessity of religious faith for the human reason — the faith is not only the main element of religious consciousness, but also a metaphysical principle of cognition of God. The study of the contexts of the appeal of Frank and other Russian philosophers to the topic of the ontological argument leads to the conclusion that such an appeal was associated with the demonstration of the relevance of their metaphysical constructions with the Christian religion.

Is Whiteheadian Process Thought Compatible with Early Buddhist Philosophy?

abstract: Numerous authors have compared Process thought as articulated by Alfred North Whitehead and Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, owing to the fact that each of these systems is rooted in the notion that relational action, rather than substance, is meta-physically fundamental and that human life is to be understood as fundamentally experiential. However, despite the fact that the foundational philosophical tenets of Mahayana Buddhism are built on axioms established and rooted in early Buddhism, relatively little has been written comparing Process thought with the philosophy of early Buddhism. In this essay, I first offer a brief comparison and discussion of the foundational metaphysical principles of these systems. The purpose of this essay is to extend the dialogue between Process thought and early Buddhism, highlighting both areas of convergence and points of departure. The first task is to establish how key terms in each system may be understood in terms of the other and to point out ways in which these systems converge around questions of ontology, agency, and the nature of the self. I will then discuss the epistemologies that underwrite these meta-physical commitments. Finally, I will conclude with a brief comparison of the role of aesthetics in human experience and the soteriological project within these two schools of thought.

Познаёт ли сознание само себя в когнитивных науках?

The paper critically examines some theses from A.V. Smirnov’s monograph ‘The Logic of Meaning as a Philosophy of Consciousness: An Invitation to Reflection’. In particular, the statement about the inability of cognitive sciences to exhaustively explain conscious­ness because of its de-subjectivation within their framework. It is shown that cognitive sciences are generally able to cope with the intellectual and controlling aspects of con­sciousness. Only its phenomenal aspect remains in question, but this is clearly not what the author of the monograph means. Further, he argues that understanding the workings of consciousness underlies the philosophical foundations of any subject. The analysis shows that if we exclude consciousness as control and the phenomenal consciousness, which are obviously irrelevant here, then the philosophical foundations of anything within this understanding are reduced either to normative requirements in the form of the logical foundations of theories, or to empirical data in the form of cognitive limita­tions of real subjects. Attributing rationalism and universalism to the Western philosophy as its essential properties, the author of the monograph does not take into account that ra­tionalism as anti-empiricism has long been a kind of abandoned trend, and rationalism as a commitment to inferential procedures has also been recently challenged by some strong alternatives. Similarly, the author’s opinion of the Western philosophy of mind as the exe­cution of the Cartesian program, which he reduces to cogito ergo sum, is disputed. This methodological tool – and the metaphysical principle as well – of Descartes is subjected to incessant attacks from representatives of various schools of Western philosophy. More­over, it underlies not the philosophy of mind, but the epistemology of the great philoso­pher. Finally, the author’s concept of ‘unfolding the folded’ comes down to a kind of di­alectical deduction of the empirical features of various cultures from a priori predeter­mined ‘subject-predicate gluings’ and ‘intuitions of integrity’, which paradoxically brings us back to Hegelian-type rationalism.

Gudomlig enkelhet och gudomlig närvaro

In this paper, the development of the understanding of the simplicity of the first metaphysical principle in the Neoplatonic tradition is analyzed. It is argued that Plotinus gives the highest priority to simplicity, making it the most important aspect of his understanding of the first principle, and thereby isolating the first principle and making it separate from the world. It is argued that Proclus gives less priority to simplicity and thereby opens up for a real relation between the One and the world and that Pseudo-­Dionysius takes Proclus's modification of Plotinus further and priori­tizes the fact that God is beyond being over the fact that God is simple. This gradual change in these three thinkers is placed into dialogue with contemporary discussions about divine simplicity. It is argued that divine simplicity becomes a theoretical problem when it is understood as a positive description of God's being and not as apophatic theology. To stress this point further, Denys Turner's thinking about apophatism is used to argue that divine simplicity should be understood from a most apo­phatic level of thinking, where it is neither understood as a positive nor negative way of describing God's being.

Relativity, categories and principles in the diuisio aristotelea 67M/32DL

AbstractThe Diuisio Aristotelea 67M/32DL draws a distinction between two categories of beings, per se and relatives. I defend three main theses. First, that the relation of dependence characterizing the members of the latter category is modal and symmetrical in nature and, accordingly, the per se-relatives contrast cannot be equivalent to the substance-accidents contrast. Second, that the type of relativity relevant to this diuisio is both ontological and semantic in nature (but with different emphases depending on the version of the diuisio considered). Third, I argue, against a widespread opinion, that the last line of the DL version of the diuisio does not concern metaphysical principles. Here I also compare the diuisio to other Early Academic bicategorial schemes and show that they differ from one another significantly, especially as far as the alleged connection between categories and metaphysical principles is concerned.

Metaphysical Principles of the Science of Nature and Phenomenology in Emmanuel Kant

This article, which shows the relationship between the metaphysical principles of natural science and phenomenology, shows precisely how Immanuel Kant, through these principles, contributed to the establishment of the phenomenology of perception. Thus, this article which first shows how Immanuel Kant was able to interpret and understand nature from its metaphysical principles, shows precisely and finally how the phenomenology of perception only became possible through the understanding of its principles. This is why the article then shows how these metaphysical principles of natural science are set up as the condition of possibility of the phenomenology of perception in Husserl and Merleau-Ponty.

Роль метанойи в формировании теологического мировоззрения

Introduction. In connection with the acquisition of the status of science by theology, the question arises how to update the internal sources of motivation of the theologian-researcher for scientific activity. One of the motivating factors is the consideration of research activities as a special kind of worship, which consists in an inner aspiration to know the God by approaching the comprehension of ultimate meanings. In this case, research activity is regarded as sacred, which undoubtedly gives the theologian a special impetus to action. Theoretical analysis. The analysis of the philosophical and hermeneutical traditions of Christianity and Islam, studies of philosophers and psychologists, as well as the ideas of traditional philosophers, allows us to conclude that metanoia as a change of mind that shifts the point of view beyond the usual meanings contributes to looking at the world through the prism of the sacred, favoring the return of the sacred into everyday life. Conclusion. Metanoia, which occurs in the course of research activities, is considered as a process of a kind of rebirth of the theologian, opening access to his hidden psychic energy, carrying out a “turn of consciousness” towards the comprehension of sacred truths. The research activity of a theologian is a special kind of scientific creativity, based on the highest metaphysical principles, aimed at restoring and maintaining contact with a living religious tradition through the transmission of primordial traditional values.

The Flexibility of Thomistic Metaphysical Principles: Byzantine Thomists, Personalist Thomists, and Jacques Maritain

The Flexibility of Thomistic Metaphysical Principles: Byzantine Thomists, Personalist Thomists, and Jacques Maritain

PHILOSOPHICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE CONCEPTS OF QUANTUM MECHANICS “STATE” AND “TIME” IN THE TREATISE OF W. HEISENBERG'S “REALITY AND ITS ORDER”

W. Heisenberg's treatise “Reality and its order” is a philosophical work of a scientist and philosopher and reflects the totality of his views on various aspects of reality. In this article, the author attempts to analyze the central concepts of quantum mechanics, “state” and “time”, as well as to determine how relevant the ideas of the treatise may be in the world of modern natural science. This point seems especially important, given the time of writing the treatise (no later than 1942), which gives reason to recall the philosophical foundations on which physics rests, and give them a new interpretation that meets modern challenges. The article shows the need to build modern physics on the principles of metaphysics, that is, to study the subject of physics from the position that the world has a metaphysical basis. Statements about the nature of time by various authors are given: from ancient natural philosophers (Aristotle) to medieval thinkers (Augustine, Grossetest), as well as modern researchers (A.Yu. Sevalnikov, Yu.S. Vladimirov, V.D. Zakharov), etc.