philosophy
Simin Esfandiari
Abstract
IntroductionIn various philosophical perspectives, the concept of the essence and being of the universe is one of the issues that has always led to discussions and reflections among renowned philosophers such as Plato and Arthur Schopenhauer. Plato, focusing on the concept of ideas and the world of ...
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IntroductionIn various philosophical perspectives, the concept of the essence and being of the universe is one of the issues that has always led to discussions and reflections among renowned philosophers such as Plato and Arthur Schopenhauer. Plato, focusing on the concept of ideas and the world of thought, and Schopenhauer, emphasizing the will and the concept of the "thing in itself," have created various views on truth and existence, each influenced by different philosophical and historical backgrounds. This article seeks to provide a deeper insight into the concept of the essence or "being" of the universe and the epistemological function of art within it through the study and analysis of the perspectives of Plato and Schopenhauer. By examining these concepts, the role and importance of art as a means of understanding and cognizing the universe are explored. On one hand, a look into Plato's philosophy and the concept of ideas and forms is presented to understand how art relates to truth and being, and on the other hand, Schopenhauer's perspective on will and the "thing in itself" and the role of art in understanding and visualizing these concepts are examined. Given that each of these perspectives is rooted in rich and sometimes complex philosophical thoughts, the writing of this article is dedicated to a detailed analysis of the concepts and a review of various sources related to these topics. It is hoped that these analyses can present the perspectives of Plato and Schopenhauer in the context of art and knowledge to the readers in the best possible way, aiding in a clearer understanding and enlightenment of our perception of the world and art. Literature ReviewIn the articles "Aesthetics and Art in Plato's Philosophy" by Abolhasan Ghaffari (2015) and "The Role of Art in Schopenhauer's Thought" by Mohammad Javad Safaian and Amini (2009), Plato's view on art and its levels, as well as Schopenhauer's view on the role of art in alleviating pain and suffering, have been explained. However, the comparison between these two thoughts, especially the epistemic function of art in understanding the essence of the world or the thing-in-itself, is a new approach addressed in this article. Methodology This article attempts a descriptive-analytical approach. After explaining the phenomenal world and the essence from Schopenhauer's perspective, the importance and position of art, the levels of art, and its epistemic function in Schopenhauer's thought are discussed by contemplating Plato's philosophy and his view on the relationship between art and understanding the truth of the world.. ConclusionSchopenhauer, like Plato, regards this world as a manifestation wherein the essence is manifested; because behind the sensible, there is an inner and mysterious truth, the visible world is entirely subsidiary and dependent on it, and there is no intrinsic difference between this visible world and the essence for Schopenhauer, just as for Plato, there is no intrinsic difference between the natural world and the world of forms. Considering the degrees of existence and corresponding degrees and levels of knowledge, this world is a shadow of that world, and knowledge of this world is a degree of levels of cognition, and during the example, it is considered as the highest example. The essence or the being of the world for Schopenhauer is the will, but the will is not the same as the Platonic example because from Schopenhauer's perspective, the Platonic example, which is rational, is an intermediary between will as the essence and the visible. Whereas, Schopenhauer's will be not accessible to reason. This is where the role and position of art in Schopenhauer's philosophy become clear; because Schopenhauer, like Plato, believes in the epistemic function of art; because art for Schopenhauer is not the expression of emotions and feelings; rather, art is a particular understanding of reality. Art is directly and immediately, not with general and abstract concepts, seeks to reach the essence and being of the world, and with art as the power of inner thought, knowledge of the essence and will, namely, the inner and true reality of the world, is attainable. Therefore, Schopenhauer considers true art as the observation of the general and will. Furthermore, art can create a kind of deep thought in humans to free the mind from the captivity of desires and, as a result, transcend suffering and hardships in the superior world. Plato, considering the relationship between epistemology and ontology in art, like Schopenhauer, seeks to give authenticity to art. Plato, by raising the criterion of knowledge for the artist in creating an artistic work, shows that the arts, as it were, in different directions, are reflective of knowledge of truth and untruth. Therefore, for Plato, knowledge is the most important component in imitation; if imitation is based on ignorance and lack of knowledge, it has a reprehensible meaning, and imitation based on knowledge is desirable and preferred. Plato in the Republic considers imitation as a formative authority that can be multi-layered; that is, it can be close to the truth or far from it, and while being imitative, believes that to imitate well, one must know the truth. The closer an art is to the truth, the more valuable it is; therefore, any art indifferent to the truth is considered worthless.
philosophy
fatemeh bakhtiari; sima safari; Abbas Haj Zein Alabedini
Abstract
Asceticism has been one of the most important concepts in Arthur Schopenhauer’s philosophy, especially in his theory of salvation. He has defined salvation as releasing from pain and suffering and achieving long-term tranquility. According to him, such tranquility may be achieved by the way of ...
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Asceticism has been one of the most important concepts in Arthur Schopenhauer’s philosophy, especially in his theory of salvation. He has defined salvation as releasing from pain and suffering and achieving long-term tranquility. According to him, such tranquility may be achieved by the way of asceticism. Life is suffering according to him. Hence, a way of relief must be sought. Thus, he has thought that the source of all suffering is will. He has actually considered suffering as a phenomenon of will and an essential part of human life. Therefore, will has to be denied, surpassed, and dumbed if relief and peace are required. Denying and ignoring the appetites and wishes makes the relief possible. Thus, he paid special attention to the concept of Asceticism and declared it as the only way of true salvation. This essay tried to explain the concepts of Asceticism and salvation and then show how Asceticism may soothe human beings' sufferings and lead to salvation according to Schopenhauer.
philosophy
Mehrdad Ahmadi; Mohamadreza Asadi
Abstract
Heidegger believes that the subject of representation is essentially a subject that wills the represented in every representation in a way that the expansion of the domains of human representation and going through the reality and determining it as a subject is directly related to the expansion of his ...
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Heidegger believes that the subject of representation is essentially a subject that wills the represented in every representation in a way that the expansion of the domains of human representation and going through the reality and determining it as a subject is directly related to the expansion of his will and expression of his will in the world. When Nietzsche answers the question of what is the being of beings with the will to power in fact he expresses the hidden source of all representational tradition which was unsaid to him. For Heidegger, the will to power brings subjectivity to its end. and end which culminated in our technological age of reducing humanity to be a representation of a greater will that Heidegger calls will to will. But the article approaches the problem just mentioned not as a distinguished phenomenon but treats it totally in the tradition of the west as emerged in the light of the essence of truth as dominant in Rome. Having this in mind, we argue that the technological age is the reversal of representational relation which delivers man over the darkest night of his destiny and consequently decentralizes him in favor of a bib picture of the world which is able to give a coherent narration from everything. It is this inhuman and also technological narration that extracts the subjective will of the representing subject.
mostafa Abedi jighe; Mohsen Bagherzadeh meskibaf; mohammad Asghari
Abstract
To realize human autonomy, Descartes establishes the dialectical relation between consciousness and freedom through the three essential elements of understanding, will, and divine power. Through the free will of negative, as methodic doubt and the destruction of all presuppositions, the basis of consciousness ...
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To realize human autonomy, Descartes establishes the dialectical relation between consciousness and freedom through the three essential elements of understanding, will, and divine power. Through the free will of negative, as methodic doubt and the destruction of all presuppositions, the basis of consciousness is referred to the human being and releases it from external authority. By building a knowledge based on the innate concepts that come from within and without mediation consciously re-establishes knowledge. In this way, human beings not only gain autonomy of understanding but also freedom through the effort of a systematic and restrictive understanding. Because with the entry of the limiting of understanding in the area of the will, freedom is no longer meant to be nonchalance and lawlessness. But freedom within the limits of certain judgments of understanding and its legislation and divine power are enclosed. Through this process, it is promoted to positive freedom. Descartes, by declaring that the natural imaginations are verifiably confirmed by divine confirmation, relied on God to guarantee the knowledge of the understanding and in this way, he describes freedom as God's guarantee. Therefore, in Descartes' philosophy, the realization of positive freedom under dialectical conditions form on the basis of the complex relationship between will, intelligence, and divine power, and all of the elements that constitute a whole will only have meaning with each other.
Mohammadreza Abdulahnezhad
Abstract
The concept of ‘free will’ is central in both Kant’s and Schopenhauer’s moral philosophy. In the Kantian moral system, ‘free will’ is only regarded as moral when it dutifully follows reason and its a priori, absolute rules. Schopenhauer, on the other hand, holds that ...
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The concept of ‘free will’ is central in both Kant’s and Schopenhauer’s moral philosophy. In the Kantian moral system, ‘free will’ is only regarded as moral when it dutifully follows reason and its a priori, absolute rules. Schopenhauer, on the other hand, holds that since human will is a priori to his reason, reason cannot engage will into any action. Instead of reason, he regards human motivations and stimulations as the main sources which shape any action, including moral actions. The important point is that he identifies three types of stimulations, namely ‘compassion’, ‘egoism’ and ‘pessimism’, among which he finds only ‘compassion’ to be the true stimulation for moral action and the basis of moral acts, and he dismisses the other two as immoral stimulations. He criticises foundations of the Kantian moral philosophy with the help of three following arguments: first, he questions the Kantian moral formalism and his a priori claims; second, he criticises the conceptual flaw in Kant’s moral philosophy (which is the result of an inconsistency between his claim that morality should be based on reason and his inner appreciation of verbal morality); third, he accuses Kant’s moral system of being one based on egoism. The present paper aims to explain the main status and characteristic of Schopenhauer’s moral system by way of explaining his criticism of Kant’s moral system.
abdollah nasri
Volume 9, Issue 36 , January 2014, , Pages 71-82
Abstract
Determinism versus Free Will is one of the important concepts and an impediment in philosophy. Throughout history, philosophers of the East and West have had much reflection over this issue. Islamic philosophers have debated over determinism amidst the topics of affective qualities, the principle of ...
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Determinism versus Free Will is one of the important concepts and an impediment in philosophy. Throughout history, philosophers of the East and West have had much reflection over this issue. Islamic philosophers have debated over determinism amidst the topics of affective qualities, the principle of causality and divine attributes.
Allameh Tabataba’i, too, both in his philosophical scholarly works and in his book Tafsir al-Mizan, has studied different aspects of determinism versus free will. He, by considering free will as innate, has criticized the view of materialists about determinism in human actions and has later, through proposing suppositions of different human actions, has studied human free will and authority.
Allameh Tabataba’i, based on his own philosophical methods and by analysing the trinal concept of will, authority and exigency, has analysed the relationship between these three notions through his philosophical contemplations.
The discussion about divine will and its relation to authority is another topic which has drawn Allameh Tabataba’i’s attention and studies. Amidst his discussions, he has criticized the theories of Ash’ari and Mu’tazilite scholars as well as criticizing the opinions of some of the fundamentalists regarding the issue of priority (in the analysis of authority).
hajar nili ahmad abadi; ali karbasi zadeh
Abstract
This paper aims to conduct a comparative study of the views held by Allameh Tabataba'i and Kant on the social freedom. Their views are introduced in the first two parts and compared and contrasted in the last part. Allameh Tabataba'i believes the true freedom to be freedom from all restraints but the ...
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This paper aims to conduct a comparative study of the views held by Allameh Tabataba'i and Kant on the social freedom. Their views are introduced in the first two parts and compared and contrasted in the last part. Allameh Tabataba'i believes the true freedom to be freedom from all restraints but the submission to God. Kant, however, deems true freedom to be freedom of the will. They both believe that the mankind first resists the establishment of social life but finally accepts it and enacts the law to secure the society and enjoy the social freedom. In Allameh Tabataba'i's belief, the law should be based on monotheism, resurrection, ethics, and reason, while for Kant, freedom of the will and the self constitute the basis for the law. They, however, share the belief that the law by itself could not help the mankind to establish the social freedom. Allameh Tabataba'i declares monotheism and ethical faith as the basis of the law, and Kant deems ethical rules based on pure reason its prerequisite.
mohammad hoseyn bayat
Abstract
The main aim of this paper is considering and criticizing knowledge, will and power of God and human from the viewpoint of philosophers and theologians. The paper has three sections: The first section is devoted to some preliminary definitions; in the second section, I explain and criticize views of ...
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The main aim of this paper is considering and criticizing knowledge, will and power of God and human from the viewpoint of philosophers and theologians. The paper has three sections: The first section is devoted to some preliminary definitions; in the second section, I explain and criticize views of some philosophers and theologians about knowledge, will and power of God and human; and in the third section, I conclude the preferred views about the mentioned topics.
farah ramin
Abstract
Man’s free will is one of the important issues dealt with by two philosophers: Sadr-ol-Mote'allehin, founder of “transcendent theosophy”, and Jaspers, an atheistic existentialist philosopher. To compare the ideas of these two philosophers, regarding the differences between the basics ...
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Man’s free will is one of the important issues dealt with by two philosophers: Sadr-ol-Mote'allehin, founder of “transcendent theosophy”, and Jaspers, an atheistic existentialist philosopher. To compare the ideas of these two philosophers, regarding the differences between the basics elements of their thoughts, a cautious approach is necessary. Included among the issues which bring Jasper’s philosophy close to that of Sadra are Jaspers' attention to Man and his emphasis on “soul” or “existence” as the essential part of human being, an element of which is the individual's free will, the definition of “free will”, “will”, and “freedom”, his viewpoint on a free human being and the relation between "free will "and “transcendence”. Offering the most primary views of the two philosophers on the complicated subject of Man’s free will, the present article is to point out the similarities and differences between the two philosophical traditions and make comments on the mentioned philosopher's way of thinking.
khosro bagheri; zohreh khosravi
Abstract
In the present essay, it is suggested that Islam's view on human could be formulated essentially in terms of agency. From this perspective, action and human agency is based on three basic foundations termed as cognition, emotion, and will. The agency point of view with the mentioned components is a hard ...
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In the present essay, it is suggested that Islam's view on human could be formulated essentially in terms of agency. From this perspective, action and human agency is based on three basic foundations termed as cognition, emotion, and will. The agency point of view with the mentioned components is a hard core that should be seriously taken into account in any kind of theorizing about the human like what is involved in psychology or sociology. Of course, talking about impulsive behavior in the individual or the unpredictability of consequences of integrated actions at the social level is compatible with the agency point of view in the Islamic theory of action given that the above-mentioned hard core is accepted at the bottom. Habcrmas has also seriously taken into account the human agency. In his theory, two models of purposive-rational and functional rationality in system are used. These two models have led to acceptance of two conceptual apparatuses and two methodological styles. The characteristics of these two apparatuses and methodological styles prevent us from considering continuity between them. This is because changing "the actor's view" to "the spectator's view" changes the quality of the subject altogether. Comparing the two theories, it could be said that Habermas's view on the cybernetic explanation of social system is an example of the explanation that is based on assumptions different from those of Islamic view on human. This is because the cybernetic explanation, as Habermas holds, does not care at all about intentions and awareness of agents. In this kind of explanation, it is held that the system itself has an objective entity and, in addition, has particular laws for development according to the logic of feedback and in which intentions and awareness of agents have no place
