From Essence To Being The Philosophy Of Mulla Sadra And Martin Heidegger

In a unique parallel analysis, Muhammad Kamal delves into the most controversial subjects of Islamic and Western existential philosophy. He describes the philosophical ‘turn’, ontological difference, becoming, and nothingness in the ontology of Mulla Sadra and Martin Heidegger. Through analysing the ontological enterprises of Sadra and Heidegger, Kamal shows how they both held that Being is the sole reality, and how both stood in opposition to Plato’s metaphysics. Despite hailing from different regions and eras, both Sadra and Heidegger viewed Plato’s philosophy as an established philosophical tradition which led to a state of untruth, or what Heidegger would have called ‘the oblivion of Being’. As Kamal explicates, Heidegger’s opposition to Plato became manifest in his deconstruction of the history of ontology, while Mulla Sadra’s opposition to Plato emerged through his criticism of the Iranian philosopher Suhrawardi’s doctrine of the principality of essence. These new interpretations of being by two philosophers brought new life to both Islamic and Western schools of philosophy and have formed the basis of much of modern ontology, epistemology, and philosophical psychology.

Heidegger's study of the essence of metaphysics--ontology and poetry--with a brief outline of his career.

The Essence of Truth must count as one of Heidegger's most important works, for nowhere else does he give a comparably thorough explanation of what is arguably the most fundamental and abiding theme of his entire philosophy, namely the difference between truth as the "unhiddenness of beings" and truth as the "correctness of propositions". For Heidegger, it is by neglecting the former primordial concept of truth in favor of the latter derivative concept that Western philosophy, beginning already with Plato, took off on its "metaphysical" course towards the bankruptcy of the present day. This first ever translation into English consists of a lecture course delivered by Heidegger at the University of Freiburg in 1931-32. Part One of the course provides a detailed analysis of Plato's allegory of the cave in the Republic, while Part Two gives a detailed exegesis and interpretation of a central section of Plato's Theaetetus, and is essential for the full understanding of his later well-known essay Plato's Doctrine of Truth. As always with Heidegger's writings on the Greeks, the point of his interpretative method is to bring to light the original meaning of philosophical concepts, especially to free up these concepts to their intrinsic power.

A fantastic read for any scholar or student interested in philosophy, epistemology, or ontology.

This book is an interpretation of one of the central themes of Mulla Sadra’s philosophy of existence known as ‘transubstantial change’. It provides, for the first time in English, a comprehensive analysis of transubstantial change in light of Sadrian ontology and its impact on some philosophical issues such as identity, values, and truth. As the author elucidates, in transubstantial change nothing is indestructible and everything in the world, including substance, is inconstant renewal.

Introduction to Philosophy (volume 27 of Heidegger's Complete Works) presents Heidegger's lecture course delivered in the winter semester of 1928-1929 at the University of Freiburg, translated into English for the first time by William McNeil. In this lecture series, Heidegger explores two major themes: the relation between philosophy and science and the relation between philosophy and Weltanschauung (worldview). Through extensive analyses of truth, unconcealment, and transcendence, he delves into topics that would expand into his later work. From being-with and community to the phenomenon of world and the "play" of world, Heidegger covers a wide range of philosophical concepts with unprecedented clarity and profound insight. Introduction to Philosophy offer an encounter with a true master at work.

A “well-crafted and careful rendering of an important and demanding volume” covering the philosopher’s views on language, life, and politics (Andrew Mitchell, Emory University). In these lectures, delivered in 1933-1934 while he was Rector of the University of Freiburg and an active supporter of the National Socialist regime, Martin Heidegger addresses the history of metaphysics and the notion of truth from Heraclitus to Hegel. First published in German in 2001, these two lecture courses offer a sustained encounter with Heidegger’s thinking during a period when he attempted to give expression to his highest ambitions for a philosophy engaged with politics and the world. While the lectures are strongly nationalistic, they also attack theories of racial supremacy in an attempt to stake out a distinctively Heideggerian understanding of what it means to be a people. This careful translation offers valuable insight into Heidegger’s views on language, truth, animality, and life, as well as his political thought and activity.

The two lectures translated here were published in 1957 under the title Identitat und Differenz. The sensitive and attentive reader will come away with a feeling that he now knows Heidegger, the man, the teacher, better. Heidegger provides illuminating insights and thoughts on many a vital issue—our technological age, religion, language, history, and more—all of which he touches upon here, if only epigrammatically. What makes Heidegger important is his receptiveness, his sensitivity, his ability to be at the heart of the problem and “see” and “hear” when others see and hear nothing.

This important early Heidegger text sheds new light on his later focus on language.