Паметта в гносеологията на Аврелий Августин

Author(s): Simeon Alexov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 24/2018

This article elaborates the well-known Theory of Memory of Augustine, an early Christian philosopher and theologian. Particular attention is dedicated to his Confessions, as a basic work that presents his philosophical concept of memory. The article examines the following issues: the basic functions of memory as a possibility to preserve the acquired knowledge through senses and the memory as its actualization. Also, the memory represents a personal identity and at the end a possibility for transcendence of oneself beyond the sensible world. Despite the differences of the functions that the memory performs, it aspires to achieve the only, eternal and unchanging truth, which is God.

Understanding and Truth in Boethius’s "The Consolation of Philosophy"

Author(s): Elitza Kaldramova / Language(s): English Issue: 24/2018

Understanding is associated with reason. It is correct when it corresponds to the truth and is incorrect when fallacy is mistaken as truth. The latter is considered as great value because it is necessary for achieving human’s ontological purpose, namely achieving the good. Truth also leads to understanding and is associated with light. Correct understanding provides information about the value of different things and thus striving for seemingly valuable and god things is avoided. It has a significant role in noticing the differences between truth and false opinion. Understanding and truth are necessary conditions for acquiring knowledge and have a two-way relationship between them. On the one hand, understanding is acquired by means of the spark of truth present in the human soul. On the other hand, truth leads to understanding different relations, for example the one between material and non-material world.

Никита от Марония – един особен поглед към Запада. Filioque & същностни енергии

Author(s): Georgi Kapriev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 24/2018

The text deals with the position of Nicetas of Maroneia in his six fictitious dialogues between the "Latin" and the "Greek": Περὶ τῆς ἐκπορεύσεως τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος. Niketas tries to justify the filioque by rejecting his introduction to the credo, however. The analysis shows that his argumentation is not dependent on the Latin authorities and the 12th century current teaching of the Roman Church. He relies on the theological and philosophical foundations of theological and philosophical thinking within the framework of the Eastern Christian culture of his time. A unique point of his argument is the axiomatic use of the doctrine of the essential energies which he places in the mouth of the "Latin". In doing so, he demonstrates in plain language that he considers the doctrine of essential energies as a common place of philosophical thought as such. One may say that this doctrine was already firmly established in its time. Nicetas of Maroneia joins a series of Byzantine thinkers who seek to unify with Western Christian culture, but who do not want to adopt it unquestioningly, but in an interpreted form that corresponds to the foundations of Byzantine thought.

Last Possible Abstraction: The Persona Concept According to Richard of St. Victor

Author(s): Gergana Dineva / Language(s): English Issue: 24/2018

The paper makes a short overview of the first usages of the persona concept in the Western philosophical tradition, starting with Tertullian, the Cappadocian Fathers and Augustine. It is demonstrated that all of these initial usages are lacking the status of clearly defined philosophical concepts. Then is presented the first definition of persona in the Latin thought, which is formulated by Boethius in his famous Treatise Contra Eutychen et Nestorium. The focus of the text falls on the critic of Boethian definition by Richard of St. Victor in his treatise De Trinitate, and on his own definition, given at the same place, which promotes the incommunicability as the essential property of the person. We are especially emphasizing the major importance of the conceptual separation that Richard does between persona and substantia. The latter has a great impact on the development of the personality concept, which is later adopted and unfolded by a number of Western philosophers, including Peter John Olivi, John Duns Scotus and Immanuel Kant.

Проблемът за единия интелект в учението на Сигер от Брабант

Author(s): Kristian Stankov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 24/2018

In this article, I present and explain the position about the ontological status of the one universal intellect, defended by Siger of Brabant, a Parisian philosopher of the thirteenth century. I’m concerned here not only with the reconstruction of the extraordinary affirmation of the existence of only one rational substance which is responsible for the intellectual activity of every human being, but also with the investigation of the epistemic status which Siger ascribes to the theory under question. Finally, we will conclude that the hypothesis of the one intellect is not intended by Siger as a true theory, but only as an interpretation of some philosophical problems in Aristotle’s noethics.

Ролята на волята и разума по отношение на благото при Тома от Аквино и Уилям от Окам

Author(s): Vladimir Pachemanov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 24/2018

The text examines the positions held by Thomas Aquinas and William of Ockham concerning the nature of the good and the relations in which the human will and intellect must operate, in order one to be able to recognize and act upon it (or, in some cases, even to avoid it). The main topic is the conditions that must be present for one to use one’s will and for the reason to be able to understand what one must do in order to remain in the good. It is shown that one’s will and reason must act together, for one cannot achieve this goal only by following one’s will or one’s reason. The following relations are been examined: 1) between the will and the reason; 2) between the combined work of the will and the reason, and a form of a possible worldly order. Within the frame of examination of this second relation, one faces the problem of the reconciliation of God’s absolute and ordained power (potentia absoluta et potentia ordinata) and the implications that his omnipotence might have on a stable form of a natural law. The most important question is: Which is essentially the fundamental basis of what is good and what is bad?

Filozofizacija Eš'arijevog učenja

Author(s): Hasan Džilo,Šinazi Mehmedi / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 1/2018

The purpose of this paper is to show that the theological thought in Islam also contains philosophical findings of crucial importance in the history of ideas. Striking examples of such a philosophical discourse are al-Baqillani, al-Ghazali and Fakhruddin Razi. Taking Ash‘ari’s teachings as a starting point, they significantly deepened some of the philosophical views that were also discussed in European philosophy after the Renaissance. Al-Baqillani contended that dealing with metaphysics was necessary for the crystallization of religious teachings. He opted to reflect upon substance, accidents, existents, the rift among the existents, as well as on the multitude and other questions. Al-Ghazali broke the metaphysical monotony of the time by revealing not only truths but also misconceptions in metaphysical discussions, while providing supporting evidence and showing a strong dialectical and logical ability. Fakhruddin Razi went so far as to compare wisdom with Kalām, believing that Kalām is, in fact, the one true wisdom. His works show that he tackled every significant philosophical debate to date. The arguments of these religious philosophers are clear evidence of the theologization of philosophy or the philosophization of theology.

AL-GHAZÂLÎ’S CRITIQUE OF EPISTEMIC PRACTICES

Author(s): Zora Hesová / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2014

Abu Hamid al-Ghazâlî (1058-1111) is commonly believed to be the medieval Islamic scholar who rejected philosophy in the name of Islam. This simple interpretation not only does not reflect al-Ghazâlî’s much more nuanced attitude towards philosophy that he expressed in the Tahâfut al-falâsifa, it also misses Ghazâlî’s complex and critical epistemological thought. Troughout his works Ghazâlî has developed criticism of epistemic disciplines such as falsafa, kalâm and Ismailism. His criticism is nuanced and concentrated on detrimental epistemic practices such as taqlîd (conformism) and jadal (disputations). Those are shared by various disciplines and only the right usage of reason makes a discipline useful. His criticism of epistemic practices rather than whole disciplines is also the basis al-Ghazâlî’s major epistemic principle, that of limits of theory or speculation (naẓar).

PREDGOVOR PRIJEVODU AVEMPACEOVE POSLANICE

Author(s): Daniel Bučan / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 2/2014

Premda je spis Vladanje osamljenika u osnovi rasprava o psihologijskoj dimenziji spoznaje kako ju se razumijevalo u grčkoj i u srednjovjekovnoj filozofiji (zapravo o psiho-fiziološkoj dimenziji spoznaje), njegova inspiracija je pitanje o postizanju krajnje sreće, to jest onoga što filozofi nazivaju blaženstvom.

VLADANJE OSAMLJENIKA

Author(s): Abū Bakr ibn Aṣ-Ṣā’iġ ibn Bāǧǧa Avempace / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 2/2014

U svojoj je raspravi o vladanju1 osamljenika Abū Bakr ibn Aṣ- Ṣā’iġ, Bog bio zadovoljan njime i pokoj mu podario, kazao: 1 U ime Boga milostivog i milosrdnog; neka Bog blagoslovi i čuva Muhameda i obitelj njegovu. Izraz ‘upravljanje’2 u jeziku Arapâ ima više značenja koja su nabrojili njihovi jezikoslovci. [Taj izraz] najčešće upućuje općenito na upravljanje činidbama usmjerenim nakanjenoj svrsi, te ga zbog toga ne primjenjuju na onoga tko vrši jednostruku činidbu kojom se smjera nekoj svrsi; naime onaj tko za takovu činidbu pouzdano znade da je jednostruka, neće ju podvrgnuti ‘upravljanju’. Onaj pak tko za djelovanje pouzdano znade da je višestruko, uzimajući ga kao djelovanje u kojem [treba] postojati ustrojenost, tu će ustrojenost nazvati ‘upravljanjem’.

PRILOG RAZUMIJEVANJU ODNOSA IZMEĐU AL-FÂRÂBÎJA I MAJMONIDA

Author(s): Kerim Sušić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 1-2/2017

The main purpose of this work is to explain the significance of the relationship between al-Fârâbî and Maimonides, and to analyze those concepts that represent the intersection of their teachings. By insight into this issue, we are trying to determine the main guidelines, problems, tendencies and sources of Arab-Islamic philosophy. In addition, the paper tries to point out the irrefutable link between the two philosophers, as well as the direct and undeniable al-Fârâbî’s influence on shaping the main ideas of Maimonides’ philosophy, which is particularly pronounced in his understanding and determination of happiness. The paper also strives to prove that Maimonides fully assumes and greatly takes over al-Fârâbî’s philosophical project, only within the framework of the Hebrew spiritual tradition.

Ontološka analiza slobodne volje u duhovnoj tradiciji islama

Author(s): Tehran Halilović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 2/2018

Although we intuitively feel that we have the freedom to choose what we want to do and what we do not, in the philosophical explanation of various events and realities there is a recurring suspicion that we are not really as free as we think. God’s omniscience and His absolute power are established facts which some Muslims have failed to reconcile with the aforementioned sense of free will. On the opposite side of the spectrum there have been Muslim thinkers who, for the sake of preserving man’s freedom and of the survival of man’s responsibility, have advocated the idea that man’s voluntary actions are exempt from God’s absolute attributes. The Islamic philosophers and the representatives of doctrinal gnosis in Islam reject both of the preceding opinions and express a moderate view according to which the divine attributes do not impinge on man’s free will. In the opinion of Islamic philosophers, man’s sense of free will is equal to immediate understanding of one’s own truth and therefore cannot be wrong. In order to establish this conviction demonstratively, Mulla Sadra Shirazi presented the ontological position of a copulative being that signifies a state of complete dependence on the independent source of being, which is God. According to Mulla Sadra, people and all other God’s creatures are completely dependent on the divine being in the sense that without the being provided to them by God they do not possess independently even their own essence. On the basis of this complete ontological dependence, free will as God’s gift to man can also be, genuinely, attributed to man. In fact, the freedom of man’s will is just as real and genuine as man’s being itself, which is also given to him by God.

A Critical Analysis of Some of the Arguments for the Illegitimacy of Rational Investigation in Religion

Author(s): Husain Agha Shiraz / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2018

The permissibility of rational investigation into matters of religion is atopic that has always been a subject of debate among Muslim scholars. It is even possible to categorize the various sects within the Islamic world based upon their view regarding this subject. Some Muslim scholars went to extremes in their rational investigations, to the extent that they attempted to prove any and every religious verity by means of logic and reason. Otherswere at the opposite end of the spectrum in that they rejected all forms of rational discourse and said that the sole way to attain the truth is by means of a blind imitation of religion. Of course, there were many groups between the two. This paper seeks to critically analyze some of the arguments of the group of scholars who say that it is absolutely impermissible to use reason to understand religion. These arguments revolve around the comprehensiveness of the Qur’an, the idea that useful knowledge only belongs to the pious, the fact that rational investigation leads to the rejection of the apparent meanings of the religious texts, that rational investigation was introduced in the Islamic world with evil motives, that it sometimes leads to incorrect conclusions, that it leads to a vicious circle of argumentation, the idea that people often arrive at correct conclusions without the need forlogic, that reality does not observe the formal laws of logic, etc. There are some objections that are common to all of these arguments and there aresome that are specific to each one of them. In brief, none of these arguments are sound.

SVARSTYTI KLAUSIMAI APIE TIESĄ. KLAUSIMAS XIV. PRATARMĖ IR PIRMAS ARTIKULAS

Author(s): Thomas Aquinas / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 97/2018

Augustinas knygoje Apie šventųjų predestinaciją rašo ir šių Antrojo laiško korintiečiams eilučių – Ir ne todėl, kad būtume savaime tinkami ir t. t. (2 Kor 3,5) – Glosa patvirtina, kad tikėti – tai protauti pritariant. Bet atrodo, kad tai neatitinka tikrovės.

O prenošenju doktrine bātinija: općenito i detaljno

Author(s): Abū Hāmid Al-Ghazālī / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 03+04/2017

Općenito, ovo je doktrina čija je vanjština rafd [odbijanje, tj. prve trojice halifa], a nutrina čisto nevjerništvo; njezin početak je: ograničavanje puteva postizanja znanja (hasr madārik al-‘ulūm) na riječi bezgrješnog imama, skla¬njanje umova od sposobnosti spoznaje Istine zbog sumnji koje ih pogađaju i neslaganja kojima su izloženi oni koji promišljaju; odaziv na traganje za Isti¬nom putem podučavanja i učenja; sud da je bezgrješni imam jedini koji ima duhovni uvid (mustabsir) i da je obaviješten od strane Allaha o svim tajnama Šeri’ata: upućuje ka Istini i otkriva poteškoće i svako vrijeme mora imati bez-grješnog imama kome se obraća u pogledu onoga što je nejasno o pitanjima vjere (anna kulla zamān falā buDda lah fīh min imām ma’sūm yurdža’ ilayh fīmā justabham min umūr al-dīn).

Avgustinovo shvatanje politike

Author(s): Milenko Perović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 29/2018

The author considers the question on Augustine’s concept of politics by interpreting the split of political reflection in the whole of Augustine’s philosophic and theological doctrine into a theoretic generalisation of a real-political experience and theologisation of that experience according to the customs of the genuine Paulin Christian doctrine on the one hand, and, on the other, according to requirements for the establishment of Christian church in the light of existing political and historical factors.

Avgustinovo učenje o milosti

Author(s): Stanko Vlaški / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 29/2018

Augustine’s thesis that redemption of man is not possible without the assistance of God’s grace could be interpreted not only as the basis of a doctrine which is formed in spite of libertarian potential of early Christianity, but also as the basis of the doctrine which could have been accepted within the Christian spiritual circles thanks to its emancipatory sense. The author tries to examine the emancipatory potential of Augustine’s understanding of grace considering Augustine’s critique of action which is based on the respect for the law, and then he shows the way the doctrine of grace becomes significant for the new, christian understanding of the self and for the ontological foundation of Christian religion, too.

О путу ка себи

Author(s): Svetlana Jakimovska / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 30/2018

Poznanie, jakim dysponuje dusza oddzielona od ciała po śmierci, według bł. Jana Dunsa Szkota na podstawie analizy Ordinatio IV d. 45 (XIV 135–197)

Author(s): Grzegorz Witold Salamon / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2019

The essay presents some gnoseological themes with reference to the intellect of the separated soul according to John Duns Scotus. Four questions of the Ordinatio IV, d. 45 deal with these themes. In this concret cognitive situation is possible, according to Doctor Subtilis, to get to know the new quiddities of things, in spite of a lack of the empiric cognition. It means leaving behind the conception of generic empiricism and moving to the recognition of more cognitive abilities, as in Aristoteles’s conception. In a post death state (post mortem) intellect continues to have the memory of the quiddities of things known while still connected with the body and can remember concret things and events known by the senses during earthly life. Such a gnoseological notion evidences the cognitive continuity of the human intellect after death, its incorruptibility and cognitive ability at least as such as one had during earthly life. We can see here the connection of philosophic and theological questions, which mutually condition and penetrate each other. According to Scotus it is possible for the intellect of the separated soul to remember the past and to acquire new cognition. Moreover, it is also possible for such an intellect to know the prayers we refer to the blessed in heaven. Such an intellectual approach evidences a strong Augustinian influence on John Duns Scotus’ epistemic conception.

“There Is an ‘Is’”: Intuition of Being in the Thought and Writings of Gilbert Keith Chesterton (a Maritainian Perspective)

Author(s): Maciej Wąs / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

The aim of the paper is to demonstrate that Gilbert Keith Chesterton possessed the genuine intuition of being as defined by the French Thomist, Jacques Maritain, albeit almost without the proper metaphysical habitus. It opens with some explanations of the terms used, and with a short extrapolation of the theory of the intuition of being. Next it proceeds to proving the thesis assumed by the means of demonstrating that Chesterton exhibited the intuition of being as to three most important elements: its proper object (with the principle of identity included), the principle of sufficient reason and the principle of finality. Next it attempts to demonstrate that despite that understanding, he never spoke in a properly metaphysical manner, the fact that points to the lack of metaphysical habitus, and to establish certain consequences of this state of things. The text ends with a list of practical conclusions that could be drawn from an analysis such as this.