Suhrawardi’s Illuminationism: A Philosophical Study (Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science; Texts and Studies, 118)

265 Pages·2022·2.522 MB·English

by  Jari Kaukua

Suhrawardī’sIlluminationism
Islamic Philosophy, Theology
and Science
texts and studies
Editedby
HansDaiber
AnnaAkasoy
EmilieSavage-Smith
volume 118
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/ipts
Suhrawardī’s Illuminationism
APhilosophicalStudy
By
JariKaukua
leiden | boston
Coverillustration:Inkānafīl-wujūdimālāyaḥtājuilātaʿrīfihiwa-sharḥihifa-huwaal-ẓāhiruwa-lāshayʾa
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isapparent.Nothingismoreapparentthanlight).CalligraphybyNihadNadam,2022.
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∵

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations x
Introduction 1
1 RealDefinition 10
1 RealDefinitioninAvicenna 10
2 Suhrawardī’sCritique 21
2 ModalLogic 34
1 ThreeReductions:Quantification,Quality,Mode 35
2 Avicenna’sModallogic 45
3 Suhrawardī’sSimplifiedModel 50
3 Iʿtibārāt 56
1 FromEssenceandExistencetotheiʿtibārāt 57
2 TheiʿtibārātandInfiniteRegress 63
3 InDefenceoftheiʿtibārāt 69
4 TheQuestionofTruth 82
4 Bundles,Forms,andPerception 94
1 FromHylomorphismtoBundleTheory 95
2 AnticipationofForms 107
3 TheoryofPerception 112
5 LightandAppearing 118
1 TheAxiomaticFoundation:Light,Darkness,andtheBarrierin
between 118
2 TheHistoricalBackground 130
6 LightMonism 135
1 DegreesofLight 135
2 OneLightofLights 139
3 FromtheOnetoMany:PrimaryEmanation 144
4 PropitiousLight:SecondaryEmanation 150
viii contents
7 Forms 159
1 ArgumentsfortheForms 160
2 Suhrawardī’sTheoryofForms 167
3 FormsasUniversalCauses 175
8 CorporealIndividuals 185
1 IndividualsasBundles 186
2 ThreeObjections 193
3 TheQuestionofIndividuation 198
9 KnowledgeandScience 208
1 Iʿtibārī ConceptsandHumanKnowledge 209
2 IlluminationistTheoryofScience 216
Conclusion:Suhrawardī’sIlluminationism 231
Bibliography 237
Index 250
Acknowledgements
Thisbookistheproductofalongperiodofresearch,digestion,andinterpret-
ative trial and error. Consequently, I have had plenty of occasions to benefit
fromthehelpfulinsights,comments,andcritiqueofmanyacolleague.Partsof
thematerialhavebeenpresentedtoaudiencesinMontreal,Cairo,NewYork,
Rome,andMunich,andIamextremelygratefultoRobertWisnovsky,Mateus
DominguesDaSilva,andRotraudHansbergerfortheseopportunities,aswell
astoallparticipantsintheseeventsfortheirvaluablefeedback.Inaddition,
I very much cherish the critical but constructive exchanges I have had with
FedorBenevich, Cornelis vanLit, andTonyStreetoverthe years—thesedis-
cussionshavenotonlyopenedmyeyestoproblemsIhadnotforeseen,butalso
givenmeimportantconfirmationintimesofdoubt.Especialthanksaredueto
PeterAdamson,bothforhishelpfulcommentsonsomeoftheideasthathave
foundtheirwayintothebookandforhiswell-timedinvitation,almostfifteen
yearsago,whichfirstmademepickuptheḤikmatal-ishrāq.Finally,thetwo
anonymousbutdedicatedreviewersofthetypescriptcameupwithextremely
perspicaciouscomments,mostofwhichIhavetriedtoaddressinthisfinalver-
sion.Allshortcomingsthatremainaremine,ofcourse.
For the past five years, I have been able to enjoy the presence of expert
colleaguesatmyhomeinstitution,theUniversityof Jyväskylä.Thisluxurious
situationhasallowedmetotestthebook’sideasinvariousphasesof matur-
ity,andIamgratefultoHadelJarada,NathanSpannaus,andDavlatDadikhuda
forthisopportunity.Someofmycolleagueshavealsocarefullyreadpartsofmy
typescript,andforthisIowecordialthankstoKutluOkan,AgnieszkaErdt,and
especiallyYusufDaşdemir,whometiculouslywentthroughthewholething.I
hopeIcanreturnthefavouroneday.
Finally,thebookwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithouttheampleresearch
time provided by the generous funding of the European Research Council
(grantagreementid:682779)andtheAcademyofFinland.