living islam _ Islamic tradition
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The Basic Tenets of the Perennial Philosophy
Brief summary of the doctrines of the Perennial Philosophy, an Aristotelian-based philosophical realism.[It will be proven that] metaphysics shows the complete dependence of every finite being on God. [Brackets, bold and italic style are ours]
THE PROBLEM OF KNOWLEDGE What is the value of human knowledge? In the Aristotelian-based realistic systems, knowledge is the discovery of reality, not a creation of the mind, as Idealism holds. This discovery is made initially by the senses, then more perfectly by the intellect. The senses give man a material perception of the external world. The intellect understands the essential and universal nature of the objects which come into contact with the senses. This essential and universal knowledge is made possible by the formation of concepts or ideas. The concept is an intellectual representation of the object which has been contacted by the senses. Sensitive knowledge stops at the object as given by experience... It is through the concept that the intellect acquires the essential and universal knowledge of [an object]. The intellect arrives at the formation of the concept through classic abstraction... [Then it] makes use of [the concepts] through its power of comparing, judging and inferring. By so doing, the intellect builds ... a systematic knowledge of the universal causes of being... ... THE PROBLEM OF BEING Our immediate experience, both interior and exterior, is constantly assuring us of one undeniable fact, i. e., the existence of finite being in a state of continuous becoming. Indeed, which one of us can say that he is exactly the same today as he was yesterday? ... It is from this undeniable fact that every philosophical investigation must start. The philosopher must offer a rational explanation that coincides with such incontrovertible evidence. This is possible only if we suppose that finite being is composed of two distinct elements: the one, which determines being in so far as it is such a being, is called act; the other, which places in being a real exigency for what it is not actually but might be, is called potency. Moreover, becoming would be impossible unless an actual agent intervened and made the possibility become a reality. The agent could not produce such an effect unless it were determined to do so by its nature or by its will. This determination is called the end. Thus becoming finds its rational explanation in four causes: the formal (act), the material (potency), the efficient (agent), and the final (end). These four causes are the most splendid blossoms of Greek speculation and the very solid pillars of a genuine realistic metaphysics. THE PROBLEM OF GOD The rational proof of the existence of God ... is as follows. Finite being, whether considered as a limited series or an unlimited series, is essentially incapable of being the cause of its own becoming. Becoming finds its rational explanation only in the Immutable. In like manner, motion is explainable only by the Immovable; the contingent, by the Absolute. But the Immutable, the Immovable, the Absolute, is God. [The value of this metaphysical argument] is absolute because it terminates in the existence of God through metaphysical necessity ... [And it] makes it possible for us to acquire some knowledge of the nature of God. From it, indeed, we conclude the God is ... [Immutable, Permanent, meaning ': God needs not to become what He is not, because 'He is as He is']. By mentally elevating to the absolute the perfections we find in created beings, we obtain such concepts as the good, the one, the true, the beautiful which give us, in an analogical sense, some understanding of the Being of God.... THE PROBLEM OF MAN'S NATURE According to the principles of metaphysics, man is a composite of prime matter and substantial form. These two elements in man are labeled body and soul. The soul is the principle of life and the unique source of operations. ... Knowledge is made up of two different operations: the sensitive and the intellective. The sensitive is a function of the soul, but it requires an intimate co-operation of the physical organs. The intellective is the work of the soul alone. This faculty of understanding is called the intellect, and the intellect is inorganic. It is concerned with the universal essence of material beings and, in addition, performs the vital operations of judging and reasoning. Psychology [and Islamic tradition] teaches that man is endowed with free will, which takes its root in free judgment. The will also is an inorganic faculty. [The soul] ... is a spiritual substance and cannot be corrupted by the deterioration of the body. Having posited the spiritual nature of the soul, we logically conclude that this human soul is immortal. THE PROBLEM OF MAN'S INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR Man tends naturally to his own perfection, which is nothing other than his own happiness. Thus we say that the end of man is his own perfection. And since perfection is the end of man, it must pre-exist in the mind as an idea in order to be actuated. This idea of human perfection is realized by actions that are in conformity with the moral law. But where do we find this idea of perfection? How do we know the proper way to reach it? ... ... ... Since philosophy finds it reasonable that God could have revealed some special form of knowledge,
it demands that man remember such a possibility,[Were it so - at the very least!] ... quoted from: radicalacademy.com
2004-07-29
2004-07-30
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