Janis Esots

Patterns of Wisdom in Safavid Iran (eBook, PDF)

The Philosophical School of Isfahan and the Gnostic of Shiraz

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

I.B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies

The exceptional intellectual richness of seventeenth-century Safavid Iran is epitomised by the philosophical school of Isfahan, and in particular by its ostensible founder, Mir Damad (d. 1631), and his great student Mulla Sadra (aka Sadr al-Din Shirazi, d. 1636). Equally important to the school is the apophatic wisdom of Rajab 'Ali Tabrizi that followed later (d. 1669/70).

However, despite these philosophers' renown, the identification of the 'philosophical school of Isfahan' was only proposed in 1956, by the celebrated French Iranologist Henry Corbin, who noted the unifying Islamic Neoplatonist character of some 20 thinkers and spiritual figures; this grouping has subsequently remained unchallenged for some fifty years.

In this highly original work, Janis Esots investigates the legitimacy of the term 'school', delving into the complex philosophies of these three major Shi'i figures and drawing comparisons between them. The author makes the case that Mulla Sadra's thought is independent and actually incompatible with the thoughts of Mir Damad and Rajab Ali Tabrizi. This not only presents a new way of thinking about how we understand the 'school of Isfahan', it also identifies Mir Damad and Rajab Ali Tabrizi as pioneers in their own right.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury UK eBooks
• Seitenzahl: 280
• Erscheinungstermin: 18. November 2021
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780755644926
• Artikelnr.: 62836795

Autorenporträt

Janis Esots was an Associate Professor at the Department of Asian Studies, University of Latvia and a Research Associate at The Institute of Ismaili Studies (2013-2021). His research focused on Ismaili thought and the philosophical school of I?fahan (Mulla ?adra, Mir Damad and Rajab 'Ali Tabrizi). He was the managing editor of Encyclopaedia Islamica and the editor of the Islamic Philosophy Yearbook Ishraq. Prior to his death in 2021, his monograph, Patterns of Wisdom in Safavid Iran: The Philosophical School of Isfahan and the Gnostic of Shiraz was published by the Institute of Ismaili Studies (2021).

Inhaltsangabe

Introduction Chapter 1. School of Isfahan I: Mir Damad's 'Wisdom of the
Right Side' Mir Damad's Life and Works Philosophical Doctrine Metaphysics
I. Making the Quiddities Metaphysics II. Perpetuity and Perpetual Inception
Physics: Perpetuity and Motion Psychology and Eschatology Chapter 2. The
Gnostic of Shiraz: Mulla Sadra's 'Transcendent Wisdom' Mulla Sadra's Life
and Works Key Elements of the Doctrine The Principality of Existence in
respect to Quiddity Systematic Ambiguity of Existence Substantial Motion
Eschatology Summary of Sadra's Doctrine: Eleven Premises Addendum. Sadra
and the Stoics Chapter 3. School of Isfahan II: The Apophatic Wisdom of
Rajab 'Ali Tabrizi Rajab 'Ali Tabrizi's Life and Works Pivotal Tenets:
Principality of Thing and Homonymy of Existence 'Ali Quli bin Qarachaghay
Khan -The Perfecter of Tabrizi's Doctrine Chapter 4. A Comparative Analysis
of the Doctrines Mir Damad and Mulla Sadra, Mir Damad and Rajab 'Ali
Tabrizi Mulla Sadra and Rajab 'Ali Tabrizi Conclusion Bibliography