We fell behind

How Mulla Sdara missed Copernicus


Share/Save/Bookmark

We fell behind
by Borumand_M
18-Oct-2007
 

We live at a critical juncture of Iran's history and as a nation we are facing critical challenges in foreign and domestic politics. Naturally there is not much room for philosophical contemplation at this time. Nonetheless I decided to take a critical view of one of the great Persian philosophers in order to provide a historical perspective for us as a nation so we can evaluate our strengths and weaknesses and don't become a victim of a naive pride. We fell behind west for centuries and now that we want to claim back our dignity and pride we have to do so with awareness and knowledge and rid ourselves of prejudice and ignorance of the past.

If you consult Wikipedia on 'Mulla Sadra' you will find the following: '..a Persian philosopher who led the Iranian cultural renaissance in the 17th century' and 'he is also commonly known as greatest Iranian philosopher.' While the depth and importance of his philosophy in context of the Islamic philosophy is undeniable I would like to look at his works from a different and perhaps a new angle. What strikes me as interesting is the fact that Mulla Sadra's life span (1571-1640) almost matches that of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642). Of course while Galileo was an advocate of a Copernican, heliocentric view of the world (Copernicus 1473- 1543), unfortunately there is ample amount of evidence that Mulla Sadra was totally unaware of it. Mulla Sadra works are clearly based on Ptolemaic, earth centric view of universe. It would be an interesting research to find out at what later point finally Our philosophers/scientists caught up with western world in that regard. I am pretty sure that our religious schools' ('Hoze') students still are being taught the old texts which contain Ptolemaic views. Galileo invented the telescope and while he was watching the surface of the moon and moons of Jupiter Mulla Sadra was thinking along following lines (The quote is from 'The History of Muslim philosophy', chapter on Mulla Sadra): 'The cause of celestial motion is, therefore, the desire to reach perfection. A goal which because of its limitlessness makes celestial motion endless.' Ofcourse since Newton (1643 - 1727) we know that celestial motions are as much about pursuit of perfection as fall of a stone or a flying spy satellite for that matter!! So much for "cultural renaissance". Needless to say we fell behind. I leave it to historians to find who is to blame. But as I said at outset, now that we are awakened we have to be careful and distinguish between our pride and prejudice. I have more to say on Mulla Sadra philosphy later on. I hope this encourages students of philosophy and history of science to investigate issues such as this further. I think it's about time that we take a critical look at our cultural heritage with open minds and instead of producing 'allame' (all knowing) and 'Hakeem' (wiseman) by teaching long refuted concepts try to separate the wheat from chaff and seek the truth.

Share/Save/Bookmark

Recently by Borumand_MCommentsDate
The bliss hidden in the dark!
-
Jun 08, 2008
Next Life by Woody Allen (plus my note!)
3
Apr 06, 2008
The eternal affair between light and life!
-
Dec 06, 2007
more from Borumand_M
 
Manoucher Avaznia

It is a long journey; Brother!

by Manoucher Avaznia on

The process of discovering the existence is a journey with no beginning and end.  Everyone has looked at it through his own eyeglasses. 

 

Beeyaa Taa Mash'al'e Een Raah Bardareem

Ke Sadraa vo Nasseer'oddeen Hameh Heiraan Dargaahand!

 


default

But the question is:

by Miz-abdol-azim khaneh Ghareeb (not verified) on

What have you done for Iran lately?

Under the suffocation of Islam Mulla Sadra had to wear the cloth and the ideology of Islam to protect himself and his family from the wrath of those like Khomeini, the tyrants that cut your juglar in the name of God the Compassionate.

So, it's important that we pause and interpret his thoughts not in the context of religion. Just because Khomeini used him as reference it does not mean Mulla Sadra was necessaryly a religious mind.

The danger of hangind into the past for too long is that we keep interpeting things in our own ways.

The glory of the past won't save us, only our action s in future will enable us to rebuild our cultural values.

Islam will remain in Iran for thousands of years and we will be dust, but we need to reform ourselves beyond what we are told that we are capable of.

God bless Kuala Lumpur


default

Mulla Sadra

by Shahint (not verified) on

Dear friends,

Admittedly I do not know much about Mulla Sadra, but I know I have read in a reliable source that the moslem scientists at the time of Imam Jafar-e Sadegh (the sixth Imam for those who are not Moslem, and I am not) had actually calculated the radius of the Earth to a very accurate and close degree. This of course raises the question (if taken as truth), would astute scientists such as this have missed the fact that the earth revolves around the sun? I am not sure whether Mulla Sadra missed this bit of info, ignored it altogether, was not with its existence in the old Islamic scientific literature, or what the case may have been; but it is not lost on the western scientists that a lot of what is considered scientific renaissance originates in Islam and from the moslem scientists (of course not necessarily Iranian by any means), the knowlege having been gleaned from the books in Spain after the christians recaptured it during the latter stages of the crusades.
As for Avicenna or Ibn-e Sina, European medicine taught his books for 700 years after his time, he did set back the knowledge of surgery as he did not advocate it and neither did his students (I am a physician), but overall the world of medicine owes a lot to the likes of Ibn-e Sina and Razi (Rhazes in English).

What's the point? We are behind, but that doesn't mean that we have always missed the boat and have to be down on ourselves; at the same time I do not see the basis for gloating about our past either. There is nothing wrong with the middleground.


default

Debunking fallacies

by sz (not verified) on

Debunking fallacies of our popular/folkloric national psyche goes a long way to have a realistic view of the facts-ergo, bettering the chances to find answers to our age old riddle. That is, why is it that Iranians, in comparison to other ethnicities, disproportionately do so well in Democratic countries and yet have not been able to flourish in Iran? Thank you for your very enlightening article.


default

We fell behind

by Kandloos (not verified) on

Dear Boroumand,
It is so refreshing to see an Iranian asking the right questions. As they say: "Khoda ziadash bokonad"!!!
Commenting on your piece:
1- If one agrees that Copernician astronomy is based on Aristotlean logic, one question to explore is whether Aristotlean logic was ever correctly understood in Iran. In other words, did ever men such as Ibn Sina (Avicenna) or Farabi, (the proponents of Arisotlean thinking) clearly understood Aristotlean logic? The jury is still out on the above. Contemporary Iranian thinkers such as Aramesh Doostdar or even Javad Tabatabyi think (for different reasons) that it was not. A plausible answer to your question as to why Iran had Mulla Sadra rather than Gallileo therefore becomes that the aristolean philosphical tradition was weak and that it is why it lost to Mullah Sadra's precursor: Abu Hamed Ghazali.
2- You are entirely correct in dismissing Mullah Sadra as the pioneer of cultural renaissance in Iran if one is to define renaissance as the byproduct of European enlightenment. Mullah Sadra is far better defined as a Religious Revivalist.
It is no coincidence that in contemporary times, Iran's foremost lecturer of Mullah Sadra's magnum opus, "Asfar e Arbaee", was no other than the infamous Rouhollah e Khomeini.


default

It's a pessimistic take

by WarOfValues (not verified) on

Well, my friend, If you fall behind technologically you can catch up in 20 years. However, if you fall behind pholilosophically, you loose your perspective and direction. You won't catch up in 1000years!
Why do you think Iranians are good swimmers when they're given a chance? I hope you can find your answer.....
Peace


default

question?

by Anal_nymous (not verified) on

This is not Iranian_fags.com.

For those who have obsessions with rear part of human anatomy like the Khaneh ghareeb please set up your own web site or check the multitude of them already on line! In other words if you have your head up your ass this is not your web site! The author has raised many important points in this article that can be missed if ones head is up their ass naturally! So Puhleeeeease...


default

good subject also we should focus on

by Miz-abdol-azim khaneh Ghareeb (not verified) on

The radius of the anus if tangent to the angle of deviation from Mullah Sadra's genitalial argument, and once we get the root canal of the Greek gays and homosexuals in a steam bath, we will reach the same conclusion that Archimed reached in a Turkish bath! Eureka...Eureka....Eureka....!


default

Two students for the Hoze Elmiyeh Qom are

by Director of Hoze (not verified) on

QUmars Bolourchian and Ardeshir Ommani. These two were fvcked in the ass by the mullahs of the Hoze.

They were known as Qumars and Ardeshir Koon Pareh.

Allah o Akber.


default

Missing the point

by NotSoAnonymous (not verified) on

to Teacher of Hoze:
Sounds about right! Just hoping you have not been exposed to it as you sound very familiar with topics!


default

Subjects taught at Hoze Elmiyeh QoM are...

by Teacher of Hoze (not verified) on

Koon Talabeh karadan I, II, III, IV, V, and VI.

Offered both in Fall and Spring Terms.

During the Summer session, the following topic is covered:

Koon Shotor Kardan I, II, and III.


FACEBOOK