Mulla Sadra in the history of philosophy

[Ataraxia]

I enjoy reading the history of philosophy. My readings recently led me to a fascinating figure I had never heard of before: Mulla Sadra.

"Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī, more commonly known as Mullā Ṣadrā[1] (Persian: ملا صدرا; Arabic: صدر المتألهین) (c. 1571/2 – c. 1635/40 CE), was a Persian[2][3][4][5] Twelver Shi'i Islamic mystic, philosopher, theologian, and ‘Ālim who led the Iranian cultural renaissance in the 17th century. According to Oliver Leaman, Mulla Sadra is arguably the single most important and influential philosopher in the Muslim world in the last four hundred years.[6][7]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulla_Sadra

What's fascinating about him is that he lived in the generation before Spinoza, and yet was talking about very similar notions of Spinozan pantheism. Like Spinoza, he too was called a heretic by the established clergy in the capital of the Persian Safavid empire at the time, Isfahan, and so was exiled, to Shiraz, in the Fars province, which at the time was more semi-autonomous (though still part of the empire). This is where he did most of his writing and teaching.

"To paraphrase Fazlur Rahman on Mulla Sadra's Existential Cosmology: Existence is the one and only reality. Existence and reality are therefore identical. Existence is the all-comprehensive reality and there is nothing outside of it. Essences which are negative require some sort of reality and therefore exist. Existence therefore cannot be denied. Therefore, existence cannot be negated. As Existence cannot be negated, it is self-evident that it Existence is God. God should not be searched for in the realm of existence but is the basis of all existence.[21] "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulla_Sadra

Also of interest is that he appears to have been the first to talk about "existentialism", about two centuries before even Kierkegaard, and even going so far as to use the phrase "existence precedes the essence".

"Although Existentialism as defined nowadays is not identical to Mulla Sadra's definition, he was the first to introduce the concept. According to Mulla Sadra, "existence precedes the essence and is thus principal since something has to exist first and then have an essence." It is notable that for Mulla Sadra this was an issue that applied specifically to God and God's position in the universe, especially in the context of reconciling God's position in the Qur'an with the Greek-influenced cosmological philosophies of Islam's Golden Era.[15]

Mulla Sadra's metaphysics gives priority to existence over essence (i.e., quiddity). That is to say, essences are variable and are determined according to existential "intensity" (to use Henry Corbin's definition). Thus, essences are not immutable.[16] The advantage to this schema is that it is acceptable to the fundamental statements of the Qur'an,[citation needed] even as it does not necessarily undermine any previous Islamic philosopher's Aristotelian or Platonic foundations."

___________________________

I never heard of him in my history of philosophy class. Has anyone else heard of this guy? He seems to be seriously underrated. If so, I am wondering now if this idea that Kierkegaard was the founder of modern existentialism is all that accurate.The first proto-existentialist appears to have come around about 2 centuries before him.

[Agent Smith]

Iran, if you must know, is right up there with the US of A in nanotechnology. Go figure! Also, Persia aka Iran is an Islamic theocracy. Says a lot ... don't it?

Islam is a religion, one of three, born in the Levant, more or less. After the Arab conquest, Islam became the state religion of Iran. Iran, later, shifted loyalty to the Shia sect (Twelver's Islam).

Someone got it very wrong!

[alan1000]

Ataraxia, your post comes as a revelation to me for one, and I will be looking into the references you have pointed to. We Westerners too easily fall into the trap of assuming that culture and philosophy begin and end with Europe.

"Existence precedes essence" - a deeply provoking statement. If it means nothing more than "we must recognise God's existence before we can meaningfully discuss his/her essence", that of course is platitudinous. But if it means that God exists - like a newborn baby - before his or her essential attributes are developed, that is a very provocative question! If that was the intended meaning, no wonder the orthodox considered him heretical because, in every religion, the orthodox are orthodox because they dislike thinking.

[Agent Smith]

He's a ... a ... aah ... aaah ... ATISHOO! Sniff, sniff, sniff.

He's a whaaat?! God bless ya by the way.

He's ... sniff ... sniff ... this cold ... not ... a ... farmer. Cancel our trip to the museum ... please.

[Age]

I enjoy reading the history of philosophy. My readings recently led me to a fascinating figure I had never heard of before: Mulla Sadra.

"Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī, more commonly known as Mullā Ṣadrā[1] (Persian: ملا صدرا; Arabic: صدر المتألهین) (c. 1571/2 – c. 1635/40 CE), was a Persian[2][3][4][5] Twelver Shi'i Islamic mystic, philosopher, theologian, and ‘Ālim who led the Iranian cultural renaissance in the 17th century. According to Oliver Leaman, Mulla Sadra is arguably the single most important and influential philosopher in the Muslim world in the last four hundred years.[6][7]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulla_Sadra

What's fascinating about him is that he lived in the generation before Spinoza, and yet was talking about very similar notions of Spinozan pantheism. Like Spinoza, he too was called a heretic by the established clergy in the capital of the Persian Safavid empire at the time, Isfahan, and so was exiled, to Shiraz, in the Fars province, which at the time was more semi-autonomous (though still part of the empire). This is where he did most of his writing and teaching.

"To paraphrase Fazlur Rahman on Mulla Sadra's Existential Cosmology: Existence is the one and only reality.

Maybe so, but what IS 'Existence', Itself, EXACTLY?

Existence and reality are therefore identical.

So, WHY the two DIFFERENT words?

Existence is the all-comprehensive reality and there is nothing outside of it.

But Existence IS EVERYWHERE. So, there is NO 'inside' NOR 'outside' ANYWAY.

Essences which are negative require some sort of reality and therefore exist.

WHO DECIDED that so-called 'essences' are 'negative' and/or ANY 'thing' else?

Existence therefore cannot be denied.

Has ANY human being EVER denied Existence, Itself?

Therefore, existence cannot be negated. As Existence cannot be negated, it is self-evident that it Existence is God. God should not be searched for in the realm of existence but is the basis of all existence.[21] "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulla_Sadra

Also of interest is that he appears to have been the first to talk about "existentialism", about two centuries before even Kierkegaard, and even going so far as to use the phrase "existence precedes the essence".

"Although Existentialism as defined nowadays is not identical to Mulla Sadra's definition, he was the first to introduce the concept. According to Mulla Sadra, "existence precedes the essence and is thus principal since something has to exist first and then have an essence." It is notable that for Mulla Sadra this was an issue that applied specifically to God and God's position in the universe, especially in the context of reconciling God's position in the Qur'an with the Greek-influenced cosmological philosophies of Islam's Golden Era.[15]

Mulla Sadra's metaphysics gives priority to existence over essence (i.e., quiddity). That is to say, essences are variable and are determined according to existential "intensity" (to use Henry Corbin's definition). Thus, essences are not immutable.[16] The advantage to this schema is that it is acceptable to the fundamental statements of the Qur'an,[citation needed] even as it does not necessarily undermine any previous Islamic philosopher's Aristotelian or Platonic foundations."

___________________________

I never heard of him in my history of philosophy class. Has anyone else heard of this guy? He seems to be seriously underrated. If so, I am wondering now if this idea that Kierkegaard was the founder of modern existentialism is all that accurate.The first proto-existentialist appears to have come around about 2 centuries before him.

But could well be BEFORE 'this', in ACTUALITY.

[Age]

Iran, if you must know, is right up there with the US of A in nanotechnology. Go figure! Also, Persia aka Iran is an Islamic theocracy. Says a lot ... don't it?

NO, it ACTUALLY SAYS absolutely NOTHING AT ALL, REALLY, well to me anyway.

Islam is a religion, one of three, born in the Levant, more or less. After the Arab conquest, Islam became the state religion of Iran. Iran, later, shifted loyalty to the Shia sect (Twelver's Islam).

Someone got it very wrong!

Someone, supposedly, got 'what' very wrong here, EXACTLY?

[Age]

Ataraxia, your post comes as a revelation to me for one, and I will be looking into the references you have pointed to. We Westerners too easily fall into the trap of assuming that culture and philosophy begin and end with Europe.

MORE PROOF of just how BLIND and CLOSED these human beings REALLY WERE, back in the days, then this was being written.

"Existence precedes essence" - a deeply provoking statement. If it means nothing more than "we must recognise God's existence before we can meaningfully discuss his/her essence", that of course is platitudinous. But if it means that God exists - like a newborn baby - before his or her essential attributes are developed, that is a very provocative question! If that was the intended meaning, no wonder the orthodox considered him heretical because, in every religion, the orthodox are orthodox because they dislike thinking.

[Agent Smith]

Iran, if you must know, is right up there with the US of A in nanotechnology. Go figure! Also, Persia aka Iran is an Islamic theocracy. Says a lot ... don't it?

NO, it ACTUALLY SAYS absolutely NOTHING AT ALL, REALLY, well to me anyway.

Islam is a religion, one of three, born in the Levant, more or less. After the Arab conquest, Islam became the state religion of Iran. Iran, later, shifted loyalty to the Shia sect (Twelver's Islam).

Someone got it very wrong!

Someone, supposedly, got 'what' very wrong here, EXACTLY?

I'm not a farmer, this is not 1845.

Who got it wrong?

a) The man who eats
b) The man who eats
c) The man who eats

[alan1000]

OK, I think we're done here... I wouldn't expect any further evidence of human intelligence from this thread. Beam me up!

[Agent Smith]

OK, I think we're done here... I wouldn't expect any further evidence of human intelligence from this thread. Beam me up!

[Agent Smith]

The point to existentialism must be, sticking me neck out here, that you can see what lies at the end of infinity. For me, it's a red, juicy apple.

[promethean75]

Nobody in the history of the world has ever said the phrase 'a red juicy apple.' everybody always says 'a juicy red apple'.

Why would u do something so paltry and abhorrent?

[Agent Smith]

Nobody in the history of the world has ever said the phrase 'a red juicy apple.' everybody always says 'a juicy red apple'.

Why would u do something so paltry and abhorrent?

It's obvious isn't it? That's it, I'm gettin' a new disguise!