Lecture 11 Philosophers of Isfahan

Opinion

I am intellectualy attracted by Corbin’s criticism on European philosophy. For example his view that the European studies of Arabic philosophy is impoverished. I dont think this is only the case for Arabic philosophy but also for other philosophies in the Third World or Global South: Hindi or Asian philosophies. This fits the worldview of postcolonialism and critical theory. Mainly because of the fact that power structures play a role in how discourses and paradigmas are structured and maintained.

On another note, I think the criticism and scepticism of Gutas against Corbin is valuable. As Corbin has lived for many years in Iran and has been accustomed to Iranian culture, religion, customs, philosophy and mysticism, it is very healthy and understandble to question his objectivity towards the Isfahan school.

Philosophy

The defintion of philosophy that is proposed by Mulla Sadra has elements that are similar to how Socrates saw the practice of philosophy. Mulla Sadra’s definition teaches us for example that knowledge is derived through demonstration and analysis and not by adhering to an authority. He also warns us for deceptive phenomena, a contemporary example can be opitical illusions. Socrates also provided us with methods for rational thinking and rebuting the status quo and established ideas. He outlines the following steps:

1. First locate a statement that is confidently described as common sense (status quo; approved by authority)
2. Imagine the statement being false. Search for moments or contexts where the statement would not be true.
3. If an exception is found, the definition is false or at least imprecise.
4. the initial defintion must be nuanced to take into account the exception.

Oppositional view

The powerpoint slides say that the Isfahan school of philosophy is a rebuttal to the 19th century myth that Arabi philosophy has died. But isn’t the Isfahan school a Persian philosophical tradition that was established by Ismail, a member of the Safavid dynasty? And if so, how can the Isfahan school be a rebuttal of the myth that Arab philosophy has died, if the school was not established by Arabs nor the ideology?