3rd March 2024
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Comparative Medieval Philosophy

Medieval philosophy is a prerequisite to understanding the theology of Abrahamic traditions, metaphysics, philosophical psychology, and political philosophy. We will focus on six top philosophers: Alfarabi, Avicenna, al-Ghazali, Averroes, Maimonides, and Thomas Aquinas. After discussing general information about two translation movements, these distinguished philosophers, their works, and their philosophical innovations through the translation of a few of their major works, we will focus on comparative studies on three important subjects: God, creation, and freedom in three Abrahamic traditions, focusing on Avicenna, Averroes, Maimonides, and Aquinas in detail.

Religion and Science

This course discusses the relationship between religion and science from four perspectives: religion and ‘history’ of science; religion and ‘method’ of science; religion and the ‘theories’ of science; ‘philosophical and theological’ reflections. The major subjects of discussions: first, physics: quantum theory, relativity, order and complexity, and metaphysical implications; second, astronomy: the Big Bang, creation in Abrahamic religions, design, chance and necessity, and theological implications; third, biology: Darwinism and evolutionary theory, natural theology, a hierarchy of levels, and theological implications; fourth, psychology & neuroscience: conciseness, self, soul, dream and religious experience.

Transformation of ‘Islamic Republic’ to ‘Islamic State of Iran’

2021 Annual Lecture of BRISMES. Islamic Republic has been a ‘non-competitive electoral authoritarian regime’ since early 2020. Khamenei expressed recently “There may come a time when elections become meaningless and other forms of public participation emerge." Since 1979, Iranian leaders have never believed in the republicanism, and now it is time to unveil the reality of the regime: “The Islamic State of Iran (non-electoral authoritarian regime), the Shi’ite version of the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban). The ‘Islamic Republic’ has been in transition to “Islamic State” since its beginning.

The Problem of Evil

Spring 2022 Course: This is an introduction to the problem of evil that examines writings from ancient to present. ‘The problem of evil’ as the challenge of reconciling the existence of an absolutely perfect being (Omnipotent, Omniscient, and omnibenevolent God) with the existence of evil, suffering and sin has been one of the greatest problems of intellectual. The epistemic question posed by evil is whether the world contains undesirable states of affairs that provide the basis for an argument that makes it unreasonable to believe in the existence of God.

Islam

Spring 2022 Course: Islam is simultaneously one of the most frequently discussed and least understood of the world’s major religious traditions. It serves as an introduction to this religious tradition, including the foundational scripture (the Qur’an), the life of the Prophet (Muhammad), and major dimensions of Islamic thought and practice ranging from ethics/law and theology to mysticism and philosophy, as well as contemporary American Muslims. It is designed for any student (of any faith background, or none) who wants to learn about Islam, its essential teachings and its major sources.

The Era of Cooperation and Assistance

The book is a documentary of the agreeable years of constructive cooperation between Khomeini and Montazeri before and after the 1979 revolution. The Assembly of Experts recognized Montazeri as the next leader of the IRI. This hurried action proved to be detrimental to Montazeri, and did not bear any advantage for him at all. These resolutions were the brainchild of Ali Khamenei which were directed and realized with the assistance of Hashemi Rafsanjani. Compared to Khomeini, Montazeri had a relatively liberal mindset regarding domestic politics, public rights, and civil liberties.

Rational Perception in Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra

The article zeroes in on the controversial concept of rational perception in Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra’s receptive oeuvres, defining it as the complex abstraction, combination and production of universals. The role of sense perception, along with its relationship to intuition, features prominently here. The author emphasizes the break with Ibn Sina in his discussion of Mulla Sadra’s view of a certain mutability of the human soul and the three different worlds in which it exists. Emanation is posited as an existentialist relationship mired in activity rather than passivity.

Āqā ʿAlī Mudarris Ṭihrānī

Āqā ʿAlī Mudarris Ṭihrānī (1818-1889) was one of the most distinguished commentators of Mulla Sadra in Qajar period and made a valuable attempt to complete Mulla Sadra’s philosophical project. Although his philosophical writings never became as popular as Sabzawari’s, his scrutiny of philosophical matters is remarkable. As is evident from his writings, Ṭihrānī was familiar with a great deal of what was the current writings on hikma. Although he was an adherent of Mulla Sadra’s philosophy and logic, he used a large number of contemporary philosophical sources in his writings.

Statement on Palestine from North Carolina Academics

We, faculty from 19 colleges and universities across NC, are writing to strongly condemn Israeli attacks on historic Palestine, from the bombing of the Gaza Strip to the forced evictions in East Jerusalem, and to express our solidarity with the Palestinian people in their just struggle for liberation. We view this struggle for liberation as closely entwined with many struggles for racial and Indigenous justice in America, from Ferguson to Standing Rock. We reaffirm our commitment to combating racism in all its forms, including anti-Blackness, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Asian racism.

Genealogies of Pluralism in Islamic Thought: Shi‘a Perspective

Although there are a lot of verses in the Qur’an endorsing the notions of freedom, tolerance, diversity, and pluralism, all of these verses were abrogated by the Sword Verse, according to some major classical Sunni scholars. In Shi’a Islam, however, none of these verses were abrogated; the Qur’anic arguments on freedom and diversity are always valid since they are an essential part of faith; they cannot be abrogated. The political teachings of Imam ‘Ali Ibn Abi Ṭalib are very supportive of diversity and pluralism in the modern sense.
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Email: kadivar.mohsen59 (at) gmail.com

About

Mohsen Kadivar is a mujtahid, Islamic theologian, philosopher, writer, leading intellectual reformist, and research professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University.