Wisdom And Philosophy

The language of religion in Book of Couses (Kitab al-Alal)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Mastaneh Kakaiy 1
hasan abasi hosein abadi 2

1 Graduated PhD of Philosophy, Allameh Tabtaba`i University. Iran.

2 Associated Professor of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Payam-e-noor University, Theran, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22054/wph.2025.81743.2264
Abstract
In the Book of Causes, which is one of the central documents of the Neoplatonists, the possibility of knowing and speaking about the First Cause is discussed in chapters five and twenty-one. The question is what is the language of religion in the Book of Causes and how is the issue of Ineffability and knowability of the First Cause explained? In this article, we have reached the following findings using a descriptive-analytical method: in the Book of Causes, there is specific speak of deductive and negative theology, and the negative theology presented therein is both in the sense of negation and silence and in the sense of comparative negative theology; but the second meaning is more dominant, and in addition, positive theology is presented in the sense of “metaphorical analogy” to describe and express the First Cause. But positive theology also has a negative meaning in the sense of comparative; consequently, both the negative and positive paths lead to the negative comparative path. In terms of knowability, from the aspect of the First Cause, in terms of essence and “what He is,” He is unknowable by reason or any other means; But from the perspective of the first creature, which is Intelligence, knowledge of the First Cause is possible to the extent of intelligence; as a result, God or the First Cause is effable and also knowable; but knowledge of it is not "Prior" (Limi), but rather immediate through creatures.

Keywords

language of religion
negative theology
analogy
Book of Causes
God
Subjects

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Ashworth, E. Jenifer, (1999/ 2017). “Medieval Theories of Analogy”. STANFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHILOSOPHY. (substantive revision Fri Sep 15, 2017) from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/analogy-medieval/. (accessed 11/ 07/ 2019).

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Doyle, John p. (1969). “Suarez on the Analogy of Being”. Modern Schoolman 46 (3). Pp 219-249.

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Jugrin, Daniel, (2017). “KNOWING THE INEFFABLE ONE: THE MYSTICAL PHLOSOHPHY OF PROCLUS”. PHILOBIBLION. Transylvanian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research in the Humaniteies, VOL. XXII. MO. 2.  DOI: 10.26424/PHILOBIB.2017.22.2

Malgieri, Maria Evelina, (2019). “Citing the Book of Causes. IV: Henry of Ghent and His Questions on the Metaphysics”. Reading Proclus and the Book of Causes. Volume 1. Edited by Dragos Calma, LEIDEN/ BOSTON: BRILL. doi:10.1163/9789004395114_009

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Owens, Joseph. (1978). The Doctrine of Being in the Aristotelian Metaphysics. Pontifical institute of mediaeval studies Toronto Canada. third edition.

 PROCLUS. (1971). THE ELEMENTS OF THEOLOGY. A REVISTED TEXT with Translation. Introduction and Commentary by E. R. DODDS. Second edition. Glascow. New York. Toronto. Melbourne. Wellington: OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.

ROSA’N, LAURENCE JAY, (1949). The Philosophy of Proclus. The Final Phase of Ancient Thought. NEW RORK: COSMOS.

Smith, Andrew, (2012). “Image and Analogy in Plotinus”. proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy. Brill, (accessed by 19/ 7/ 2021). Andrew Smith, Colloquium 1: Image and Analogy in Plotinus - PhilPapers.

Suarez, Francisco, (2004), Metaphysical Demonstration of the Existence of God: Disputations 28,29, translated by John.p. Doyle. Augustine`s press.

Taylor, R. C. (2021). Contextualizing the Kalam fi mahd al-khair/ Liber de Causis. In Reading Proclus and the Book of Causes (D. Calma, Ed.; Vol. 2). Leiden. Boston: Brill.

 

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Ashworth, E. Jenifer, (1999/ 2017). “Medieval Theories of Analogy”. STANFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHILOSOPHY. (substantive revision Fri Sep 15, 2017) from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/analogy-medieval/. (accessed 11/ 07/ 2019).
Brand, Dennis. J. (1984). The Book of Causes. MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN 53233: MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
Bertolacci, Amos, (2022). “God’s Existence and Essence: The Liber de Causis And School Discussions in the Metaphysics of Avicenna” Reading Proclus and the Book of Causes. Volume 3. Edited by Dragos Calma, LEIDEN/ BOSTON: BRILL. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004501331_012 (accessed by 1/5/2024).
Doyle, John. Patrick, (1966). The Metaphysical Nature of the Proof for Gods Existence According to Francis Suarez, S. J. University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies.
Doyle, John p. (1969). “Suarez on the Analogy of Being”. Modern Schoolman 46 (3). Pp 219-249.
ERIVGENAE, IOHANNIS SCOTTI, (1968): PERIPHYSEON, BOOK1, EDITED BY: I.P. SHELDON-WILLIAMS, DUBLIN, THE DUBLIN INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES.
Jugrin, Daniel, (2017). “KNOWING THE INEFFABLE ONE: THE MYSTICAL PHLOSOHPHY OF PROCLUS”. PHILOBIBLION. Transylvanian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research in the Humaniteies, VOL. XXII. MO. 2.  DOI: 10.26424/PHILOBIB.2017.22.2
Malgieri, Maria Evelina, (2019). “Citing the Book of Causes. IV: Henry of Ghent and His Questions on the Metaphysics”. Reading Proclus and the Book of Causes. Volume 1. Edited by Dragos Calma, LEIDEN/ BOSTON: BRILL. doi:10.1163/9789004395114_009
Menelaou, Lakantos, (2016). “Hierarchy in the Divine Names: Dionysius the Areopagite”. http://pemptousia.com/2016/05/hierarchy‌in‌the‌divine‌names‌dionysius-the‌areopagite‌2.
Oppy, Graham&Trakakis, Nich, (2009). Mediveal philosophy of Religion: The History of Western Philosophy of Religion. Volume 2. Routledge.
Owens, Joseph. (1978). The Doctrine of Being in the Aristotelian Metaphysics. Pontifical institute of mediaeval studies Toronto Canada. third edition.
 PROCLUS. (1971). THE ELEMENTS OF THEOLOGY. A REVISTED TEXT with Translation. Introduction and Commentary by E. R. DODDS. Second edition. Glascow. New York. Toronto. Melbourne. Wellington: OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.
ROSA’N, LAURENCE JAY, (1949). The Philosophy of Proclus. The Final Phase of Ancient Thought. NEW RORK: COSMOS.
Smith, Andrew, (2012). “Image and Analogy in Plotinus”. proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium in Ancient Philosophy. Brill, (accessed by 19/ 7/ 2021). Andrew Smith, Colloquium 1: Image and Analogy in Plotinus - PhilPapers.
Suarez, Francisco, (2004), Metaphysical Demonstration of the Existence of God: Disputations 28,29, translated by John.p. Doyle. Augustine`s press.
Taylor, R. C. (2021). Contextualizing the Kalam fi mahd al-khair/ Liber de Causis. In Reading Proclus and the Book of Causes (D. Calma, Ed.; Vol. 2). Leiden. Boston: Brill.
 
References [In Persian]
Aristotle. (2005). Metaphysics. Translated by Sharaf al-Din Khorasani. 3rd edition. Tehran: Hekmat. [In Persian]
Abbasi Hoseynabadi, Hassan; Mohammadi, Naser. (2022). “A Comparative Study of Religious Language in Plotinus and Eriugena.”, 14(1) (33) 37–52. doi: 10.22108/mph.2022.130236.1333 [In Persian]
Badawi, Abdul Rahman. (1977). Explanation of Pure Good by Aristotle. In: Neoplatonism among the Arabs. Kuwait: Wakala al-Matbou‘at. [In Persian]
Ilkhani, Mohammad. (2003). History of Philosophy in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Tehran: SAMT. [In Persian]
Kakaei, Mastaneh. (2020). “The Relation Between God and Being in Suarez’s Philosophy (With Emphasis on the 28th and 29th Metaphysical Disputations)”. Allameh Tabataba'i University, PhD Dissertation, supervised by Dr. Hossein Kalbasi Ashtari. [In Persian]
Plato. (2001). Collected Works. Vol. 4. Translated by Mohammad Hassan Lotfi. Tehran: Kharazmi. [In Persian]
Plotinus. (1982). Collected Works. Vol. 2. Translated by Mohammad Hassan Lotfi. Tehran: Kharazmi. [In Persian]
Wisdom And Philosophy
Volume 21, Issue 81
Winter 2025
Pages 163-187

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