In the present paper, I investigate the ways in which the grammar of God-talk in David B. Burrell’s philosophical theology comes to meet Muhammad Husiyn-i Tabatabai’s account of divine names, which has been developed in his theory of religious language. I begin the first part of the paper by introducing Tabatabai’s innovative articulation of the concept of Mental Construct and its relevance to his account of language and meaning. I, then, clarify how he proceeds to elucidate his conception of (...) religious language in terms of what he calls ‘focal meaning’, i.e. his idea of a true sense underlying the application of a word. In the second part of the article, Burrell’s methodology of God-talk is introduced and briefly discussed, before proceeding with interlocutory explanations as well as an examination of Tabatabai’s semantics of divine names. On the basis of Burrellian reading of via analogia, I propose a novel interpretation of the principle of focal meaning. This interpretation is particularly concerned with the most appropriate manner in which we can comprehend the literality of religious language. I conclude by explaining the way in which Burrell’s analysis is useful and elucidating for a contemporary interpretation of Tabatabai’s work. (shrink)

La pittura islamica e in particolare l’illustrazione dei manoscritti, opere a circolazione limitata e prevalentemente privata, ha avuto una notevole diffusione godendo del patrocinio delle corti. Alcune pitture, soprattutto quelle che illustrano l’Ascensione celeste del profeta Muhammad, ma anche le Storie dei Profeti, pitture datate al XIV e XV secolo, rappresentano l’uno e gli altri col volto scoperto. Solo relativamente tardi, in particolare nel mondo iranico, ma anche presso gli ottomani o i Moghul dell’India, il volto del Profeta diventa (...) una convenzione iconografica. Un versetto coranico afferma che Dio parla all’uomo o per Rivelazione o dietro a un velame. Per questo nell’iconografia della pittura islamica si constata che il Profeta o altri personaggi possono figurare con il volto coperto da un velo. Questo segno di rispetto, col tempo, si trasformerà in parola e il sembiante del Profeta sarà reso calligraficamente. Islamic painting and particularly miniature painting illustrating manuscripts, books restricted to few people and for personal use, had a considerable circulation thanks to the patronage of courts. Some paintings, chiefly those illustrating the heavenly Ascent of the prophet Muhammad, but also Histories of Prophets, paintings dated to the XIV and XV century, show him and the others barefaced. Only fairly later, particularly in the iranian world, but also among Ottomans or the Moghuls of India, the face of the Prophet becomes an iconographic convention. According to a Koranic verse God speaks to man either through Revelation of behind a veil. For this reason in the iconography of islamic painting the Prophet or other people may appear with the face covered by a veil. This sign of respect, in the course of time, changed and the countenance of the Prophet was rendered in words, that is calligraphically. (shrink)

Since 2012-2013 academic years, elective courses have been added to the weekly course schedules. Within the religion, morality/ ethic and values group in the elective courses, Hz. Muhammad's Life, Koran and Basic Religious Knowledge (I-II) coursesare also included. This research was conducted on 413 students in five different schools affiliated to Kırıkkale Provincial Directorate of National Education in the academic year of 2017-2018 that is aiming to determine students' evaluations on subjects in the context of the course contents, (...) textbooks and teacher competences of elective religious courses. In this study, survey model and questionnaire technique were used in the study. According to the results of the research; Students who choose elective religion courses learn accurate information about religion. The sub subjects/ contents in elective religion course are given daily necessities of the students. There isn’t the effect of the friends on students’ choice of these classes. Also, there isn’t the effect of the headmaster and guidance teachers on students’ choice of these classes. But, there is also the effect of the parents on students’ choice of these classes. Elective religious lesson books are not prepared well. The textbook in elective courses doesn’t include enough activities / exercises. But the textbooks in elective religion courses have got enough pictures, photographs and tables. Training materials are not used in the courses. The teachers of these courses are adequate that is thought by the students. But on the other hand, it has been determined that the classes are crowded in the Qur'an courses so that there is not enough time left for the students. (shrink)

Diante da realidade islâmica contemporânea e buscando estar atento às diversas vozes presentes no “outro”, este artigo tem em vista apresentar de forma sucinta o que é o Sufismo, pensando-o como uma possibilidade – entre muitas – de concretização das crenças islâmicas. Para tal, iniciar-se-á procurando compreender como a notícia acerca de sua existência chega ao Ocidente, ou seja, como os ocidentais o “descobrem”. A seguir, centrar-se-á na busca de compreender o Sufismo a partir de sua relação com o islamismo (...) por meio de suas fontes primordiais: o Corão e o Profeta Muhammad. Por fim, este artigo apresentará brevemente alguns elementos que compõem e caracterizam o repertório de crenças e práticas de várias escolas Sufis tais como a busca da Unicidade Divina, a prática meditativa da recitação dos Nomes Divinos e a submissão à orientação de um “šayh”. Palavras-chave: Sufismo; Mística islâmica; Orientalismo ABSTRACT In the face of the contemporary Islamic reality and seeking to be attentive to the diversity of voices that we can find in the “other”, this article aims to show briefly what Sufism is, thinking it as a possibility – amongst many – of the realization of the Islamic faith. To articulate this, the article will begin looking at understanding of how the news about its existence arrives in the West, that is, how westerners “discover” it. Then, the article will focus on the search to understand Sufism from its relationship with Islam through its primordial origins: the Koran and the Prophet Muhammad. Finally, this article will look briefly at some elements that make up and characterize the repertory of beliefs and practices of several Sufi schools, such as the search for the Divine Unicity, the meditative practice of the recitation of the Divine Names and the submission to a Šayh orientation. Key words: Sufism; Mystical Islamism; Orientalism. (shrink)

"In one fashion or another, the question with which this introduction begins is a question for every serious reader of Plato's Republic : Of what use is this philosophy to me? Averroes clearly finds that the Republic speaks to his own time and to his own situation.... Perhaps the greatest use he makes of the Republic is to understand better the shari'a itself.... It is fair to say that in deciding to paraphrase the Republic, Averroes is asserting that his world—the (...) world defined and governed by the Koran—can profit from Plato's instruction."—from Ralph Lerner’s IntroductionAn indispensable primary source in medieval political philosophy is presented here in a fully annotated translation of the celebrated discussion of the Republic by the twelfth-century Andalusian Muslim philosopher, Abu'l-Walid Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Rushd, also know by his his Latinized name, Averroes. This work played a major role in both the transmission and the adaptation of the Platonic tradition in the West. In a closely argued critical introduction, Ralph Lerner addresses several of the most important problems raised by the work. (shrink)

One of most vivid examples of deep penetration of the Koran in Sufi consciousness which result became original mystical language is The Book of Spiritual Stayings of Muhammad al-Niffari (d. 977), an obscure figure in the history of Islamic Mysticism. As the main intermediaries-obstacles between the God and the person аl-Niffari considers three stages: 1) letter (harf), or Koran, 2) knowledge (ilm), 3) gnosis (ma’rifah). All three, in opinion al-Niffari, represent the veils hiding the God from Sufi. (...) The language of this Book is paradoxical and such paradoxicality shows the abnormal condition of Sufi consciousness and impossibility of expressing his mutual relation with God. Al-Niffari tries to demonstrate that any attempt of verbal expression of Supreme Essence is doomed to failure. The mostcharacteristic of Niffari’s doctrines is the doctrine of waqfah. Waqfah is regarded as the spirit of ma’rifah: whereas ma’rifah sees God and itself also, waqfah sees only God and it is God’s presence. Ma’rifah is the limit of the utterable, but waqfah is beyond the utterable. The Book of Spiritual Stayings may be regarded as an unique interpretation experience of Koran overcoming it as obstacle on the way toward to God. Owing to it the principle of unity of Deity is preserved in its purity. (shrink)

Since their introduction in the early 2000s, the use of social networking websites has exploded. Many businesses are seeing increased revenue due to their social commerce strategy. Despite the popularity of social commerce websites, some consumers are still hesitate to use them. This study aims to evaluate the factors that influence the adoption of social commerce. A sample of 721 Chinese We Chat users took part in the research. The findings reveal that social capital mediates the positive effect of social (...) commerce adoption and perceived ease of use on techno-stress and online impulse purchasing. Likewise, information overloading mediates the positive effect of social commerce adoption and PERU on techno-stress and online impulse purchasing. The findings have implications for both practice and research in understanding social commerce adoption in emerging economies. (shrink)

We studied the impact of teachers’ ethical leadership on students’ moral identity and academic citizenship behaviors. Data from 256 student–teacher matching dyads were collected from one of the top 5 Pakistani business schools. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to ensure factorial validity of the measures that were employed, and the hypothesized relationships were tested using structural regression models that utilized structural equation modeling in AMOS with 5,000 bootstrap samples. Based on social learning theory, the results supported the hypothesis that teachers’ (...) ethical leadership had significant direct and indirect positive effects on the students’ academic citizenship behaviors that were directed toward other students and the school. This study contributes to existing literature on ethical leadership and organizational citizenship behavior by highlighting useful implications of these organization-based constructs in an academic context. (shrink)

Sufism has two main dimensions: vertical (God’s pleasure) and horizontal (harmony with nature, society and local wisdom). In reality, many Sufis are considered less concerned about the balancing between vertical and horizontal dimensions. The research explores the concepts and practices of hybrid Sufism undertaken by Kyais (religious leaders) and their followers in improving quality of life. Ethnography was used for exploring the mindset and activities of Kyai and his followers. This study involved four Kyais in Java and Kalimantan, Indonesia. Research (...) data were obtained through participant observations, in-depth interviews and documentation. The data were analysed by Spadley’s ethnographic steps as follows: (1) domain analysis, (2) taxonomy analysis, (3) componential analysis and (4) cultural-thematic analysis. The results showed that hybrid Sufism could improve quality of life. Hybrid Sufism can better appreciate and interpret local wisdom with an attitude of preserving nature and a positive understanding of worldly wealth, increasing the hard work ethos to achieve material–spiritual qualities. Contribution: This article shows that hybrid Sufism encourages the life of Sufis in harmony between vertical and horizontal aspects. This understanding and lifestyle give rise to respect for others, being friendly to the environment and interpreting life and local wisdom. (shrink)

Research shows that exploring language corpora through data-driven learning plays a significant role in language learning. Nevertheless, it is not clear if using concordancing as an application of DDL affects the learners’ second language motivation. To address this gap, the current study adopted a triangulation design, validating quantitative data model, and a quasi-experimental design. Ninety English-major university students with an intermediate level of English language proficiency, divided into control and experimental groups, took part in the study. Drawing on a second (...) language motivational self-system questionnaire, the findings of the study did not result in any statistically significant differences between the students in their second language motivational self-system. Altogether, the students found learning English through a DDL approach with concordancing less motivating than receiving explicit instruction. The study has implications for language teaching and learning. (shrink)

It is obligatory to educate student researchers before they start their work by teaching them about the various types of plagiarism and how to avoid them. It is also vital that research supervisors take into account the sources of data that are explored in their students’ manuscripts. This article tries to draw the reader’s attention to the importance of avoiding all types of plagiarism in their research.

The notion of 'natural kinds' has been central to contemporary discussions of metaphysics and philosophy of science. Although explicitly articulated by nineteenth-century philosophers like Mill, Whewell and Venn, it has a much older history dating back to Plato and Aristotle. In recent years, essentialism has been the dominant account of natural kinds among philosophers, but the essentialist view has encountered resistance, especially among naturalist metaphysicians and philosophers of science. Informed by detailed examination of classification in the natural and social sciences, (...) this book argues against essentialism and for a naturalist account of natural kinds. By looking at case studies drawn from diverse scientific disciplines, from fluid mechanics to virology and polymer science to psychiatry, the author argues that natural kinds are nodes in causal networks. On the basis of this account, he maintains that there can be natural kinds in the social sciences as well as the natural sciences. (shrink)

Rockburst phenomenon is the primary cause of many fatalities and accidents during deep underground projects constructions. As a result, its prediction at the early design stages plays a significant role in improving safety. The article describes a newly developed model to predict rockburst intensity grade using Adaptive Boosting classifier. A database including 165 rockburst case histories was collected from across the world to achieve a comprehensive representation, in which four key influencing factors such as maximum tangential stress of the excavation (...) boundary, uniaxial compressive strength of rock, tensile rock strength, and elastic energy index were selected as the input variables, and the rockburst intensity grade was selected as the output. The output of the AdaBoost model is evaluated using statistical parameters including accuracy and Cohen's kappa index. The applications for the aforementioned approach for predicting the rockburst intensity grade are compared and discussed. Finally, two real-world applications are used to verify the proposed AdaBoost model. It is found that the prediction results are consistent with the actual conditions of the subsequent construction. (shrink)

The study aimed to examine the impact of parental influence and media richness on gender stereotypes and career decisions among students at the secondary level in Pakistan. The sample size was 200 students, selected through a simple random sampling technique from government and private schools. Four questionnaires were used to gather data. The data was analyzed quantitatively using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Regression analyses were used to investigate the impact of parental influence on gender stereotypes and media (...) richness influence on gender stereotype beliefs. Furthermore, parental, media, and gender stereotype behavior all have a significant impact on students’ career choices. On the scale of the parental influence and media richness, no significant gender differences were found. It is concluded that parental influence has a greater effect on students’ gender stereotyping behavior and career choices. (shrink)

The aviation industry is the center of gravity for tourism-dependent countries seeking to uplift their economic activities. The COVID-19 pandemic in the early part of 2020 threatened people and the air industry to the maximum extent. This paper investigated the sustainable air travel behavior of passengers under the risk knowledge path. The mediating role of risk perception, i.e., physical risk, psychological risk, and service quality, was also tested for the risk knowledge-air travel behavior association. We surveyed 339 travelers at six (...) airports in Thailand from January to June 2021 to record their responses. We applied covariance–variance-based structural equation modeling, and the study results revealed a direct effect of risk knowledge with an indirect impact via risk perception paths on air travel behavior. This paper highlights knowledge as a remedial response to the perceptual makeup of air services sustainability. The study has solid managerial implications for aviation management in the design of ideal pathways for retaining air services during the current public emergency of COVID-19. (shrink)

Substance use disorders (SUDs) constitute a growing global health crisis, yet many limitations and challenges exist in SUD treatment research, including the lack of objective brain-based markers for tracking treatment outcomes. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a neurophysiological technique for measuring brain activity, and although much is known about EEG activity in acute and chronic substance use, knowledge regarding EEG in relation to abstinence and treatment outcomes is sparse. We performed a scoping review of longitudinal and pre-post treatment EEG studies that explored (...) putative changes in brain function associated with abstinence and/or treatment in individuals with SUD. Following PRISMA guidelines, we identified studies published between January 2000 and March 2022 from online databases. Search keywords included EEG, addictive substances (e.g., alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine), and treatment related terms (e.g., abstinence, relapse). Selected studies used EEG at least at one time point as a predictor of abstinence or other treatment-related outcomes; or examined pre- vs. post-SUD intervention (brain stimulation, pharmacological, behavioral) EEG effects. Studies were also rated on the risk of bias and quality using validated instruments. Forty-four studies met the inclusion criteria. More consistent findings included lower oddball P3 and higher resting beta at baseline predicting negative outcomes, and abstinence-mediated longitudinal decrease in cue-elicited P3 amplitude and resting beta power. Other findings included abstinence or treatment-related changes in late positive potential (LPP) and N2 amplitudes, as well as in delta and theta power. Existing studies were heterogeneous and limited in terms of specific substances of interest, brief times for follow-ups, and inconsistent or sparse results. Encouragingly, in this limited but maturing literature, many studies demonstrated partial associations of EEG markers with abstinence, treatment outcomes, or pre-post treatment-effects. Studies were generally of good quality in terms of risk of bias. More EEG studies are warranted to better understand abstinence- or treatment-mediated neural changes or to predict SUD treatment outcomes. Future research can benefit from prospective large-sample cohorts and the use of standardized methods such as task batteries. EEG markers elucidating the temporal dynamics of changes in brain function related to abstinence and/or treatment may enable evidence-based planning for more effective and targeted treatments, potentially pre-empting relapse or minimizing negative lifespan effects of SUD. (shrink)

By combining the art of Saudi heritage, because of its aesthetic values that increase and enrich the work, and the recycling of old environmental materials, innovative artistic artifacts were produced. The importance of the research came Attention was paid to the decorations of Al-Qat Al-Asiri art and benefiting from it in creating innovative artistic artifacts. The The research aims to demonstrate the aesthetic values of Al-Qat Al-Asiri art and benefit from them in creating innovative modern art objects through the idea (...) of recycling. The research assumes the possibility of making artistic artifacts through recycling using the idea of Al-Qat Al-Asiri art. The research problem is represented in the following question. (shrink)

Includes an introd. of 49 p. by S. G. Abbas.

According to the second law of thermodynamics, irreversible processes in an isolated system move towards the goal of reaching maximum entropy. In this state, mechanical work is converted to thermal energy and thermodynamic equilibrium occurs; which is determined by the equilibrium in temperature, pressure, etc. Assuming that the universe is an isolated system, the second law of thermodynamics states that the fate of the universe is a state of thermodynamic equilibrium in which all mechanical energies are converted to thermal energy (...) and the heat is dispersed all throughout the universe. In this state, there will be no movement and the universe will expire; an event called the “heat death”. This theory has certain theological implications that can serve as a proof for the perishability of the material world. And since decay implies creation, the heat death theory can be considered an argument in favor of the temporal originatedness of the material world. (shrink)

Publication date: 14 June 2017 Source: Author: Javad Momeni, Rasoul Mohsenzadeh, Tahereh Mohsenzadeh, Rasoul Zarchini In this research, we have studied the population of street children in Khorram Abad in Iran, in 2015, with the emphasis on the role of economic and legal factors forcing children to work on the streets. The results of this research show that the issue of child labor is the consequence of both global and local matters. These children are the products of the urban (...) society, poverty, and cultural, legal, and local factors. The research method is a survey, and the statistical population is the street children, aged between 7 to 18 living in Khorram Abad, in 2015. The sample population chosen randomly includes 242 people, and the required information was gathered using the questionnaire and interview technique. In Khorram Abad, Lorestan, economic crisis and parents' misdemeanor are the two main factors that force the children to fill their fathers' missing place by working in the streets. But, gender factors such as being a boy, and cultural factors such as belonging to a specific tribe are influential in the howness of this phenomenon. In this article, we have attempted to use native sources for a better understanding of the local situation of the phenomenon, and have proposed a few solutions to alter the current situation. (shrink)

Resumo: A bioética islâmica e os valores da globalização moderna colidem, à medida que as forças globais penetram nos países de maioria muçulmana, necessitando de uma integração ponderada, para promover a compreensão mútua. Esta investigação explora as perspectivas islâmicas sobre os avanços biomédicos para identificar áreas de convergência e divergência com os valores globalizados. Utilizando a análise teórica, a síntese, a comparação e a generalização, surgiram conclusões notáveis. Enquanto a globalização promove procedimentos médicos sem entraves, a bioética islâmica apresenta posições (...) matizadas que refletem a falta de unidade do Islão. Os principais resultados mostraram que a bioética islâmica está em sintonia com os valores globais. em alguns procedimentos, como o transplante de órgãos e o aborto precoce, mas diverge em relação à reprodução assistida, à maternidade de substituição e à eutanásia ativa. devido a proibições morais. Em última análise, esta investigação realça a importância de uma integração gradual que respeite as tradições islâmicas, aliada à educação. para aumentar a compreensão e a abertura à evolução bioética. A navegação ponderada do intrincado nexo entre a globalização e a bioética islâmica pode permitir a prossecução de avanços médicos que afirmem a vida. sem sacrificar os valores fundamentais. (shrink)

Over the past couple of decades, research on the perks of corporate social responsibility has reported that it is a source of competitive advantage and can increase the bottom-line performance of the organization. However, a somewhat small proportion of this research is focused on the ‘greenwash’ side, which posits that not all CSR would lead to positive impacts. By extending this line of research, the current study is aimed at investigating the differential impacts of CSR by developing a scale for (...) the three-dimensional model of CSR attributions coined by Ahmad in 2017, that is, Embedded, P-Social, and P-Instrumental CSR, and testing the same with counterproductive sustainability behaviors. The attribution theory was used to explain the relationship between the study variables. Data (N = 311) were collected from the tourism and hospitality sectors. It was found that Embedded and P-Social CSR practices would be attributed to more genuine CSR and would lead to a reduction in counterproductive sustainability behaviors. Furthermore, the P-Instrumental CSR would be attributed to more selfish and instrumental practices and hence would be considered as greenwashing, which will consequently lead to enhancing counterproductive sustainability behaviors. The study further tested the mediating role of employees' organizational trust, which was also supported by the results. Several theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (shrink)

Features new to the second edition include a foreword by Tynnetta Muhammad, wife and student of Elijah Muhammad; opening comments by world renowned mathematician Dr. Abdulalim Sahabazz; a new chapter co-authored with Dr. Dorothy Blake Fardan; plus guided questions and power point notes to stimulate discourse around Elijah Muhammad's educational ideas.

Whooping cough is a highly transmitted disease around the world. According to the World Health Organization, 0.15 million cases had reported globally in 2018. Most of the Asian and African states are infected regions. Through the study, we investigated the whole population into the four classes susceptible, exposed, infected, and vaccinated or recovered. The transmission dynamics of whooping cough disease are studied analytically and numerically. Analytical analyses are positivity, boundedness, reproduction number, equilibria, and local and global stabilities. In numerical analysis, (...) we developed an implicit numerical integration scheme consistent with the biological problem’s properties. The analysis of the implicit method for the said model is dynamically consistent, positive, and bounded. Furthermore, an implicit numerical integration scheme is suitable for studying a particular epidemic model such as the whooping cough disease. (shrink)

This paper examines the phenomenon of ‘interactive kinds’ first identified by Ian Hacking. An interactive kind is one that is created or significantly modified once a concept of it has been formulated and acted upon in certain ways. Interactive kinds may also ‘loop back’ to influence our concepts and classifications. According to Hacking, interactive kinds are found exclusively in the human domain. After providing a general account of interactive kinds and outlining their philosophical significance, I argue that they are not (...) confined to the human realm, but that they can also occur elsewhere. Hence, I conclude by arguing that interactive kinds pose a challenge to scientific realism about kinds by making it difficult to make a distinction between real and non-real kinds. (shrink)

The durability of buildings which depends on the nature of the supervisory system used in their construction is an important feature of the construction industry. This article tries to draw the readers’ attention to the effect of untrained and unprofessional building supervisors and their unethical performance on the durability of buildings.

There are many ways of construing the claim that some categories are more “natural" than others. One can ask whether a system of categories is innate or acquired by learning, whether it pertains to a natural phenomenon or to a social institution, whether it is lexicalized in natural language or requires a compound linguistic expression. This renders suspect any univocal answer to this question in any particular case. Yet another question one can ask, which some authors take to have a (...) bearing on the issue of the naturalness of categories, is whether a system of categories constitutes a unique way of organizing a particular set of entities or phenomena, or whether there are other legitimate classification schemes that can coexist with it. Another way of putting this is by asking whether systems of categories can cut across one another, and if so, under what circumstances. Some philosophers have claimed that crosscutting systems of categories cannot exist as genuine natural kinds. This paper examines that claim and puts forward some counterexamples, concluding that this notion of natural kind is not in tune with scientific classification and ought to be rejected in favor of an alternative. (shrink)

In this paper I offer a unified causal account of natural kinds. Using as a starting point the widely held view that natural kind terms or predicates are projectible, I argue that the ontological bases of their projectibility are the causal properties and relations associated with the natural kinds themselves. Natural kinds are not just concatenations of properties but ordered hierarchies of properties, whose instances are related to one another as causes and effects in recurrent causal processes. The resulting account (...) of natural kinds as clusters of core causal properties that give rise to clusters of derivative properties enables us to distinguish genuine natural kinds from non-natural kinds. For instance, it enables us to say why some of the purely conventional categories derived from the social domain do not correspond to natural kinds, though other social categories may. (shrink)

Could some social kinds be natural kinds? In this paper, I argue that there are three kinds of social kinds: 1) social kinds whose existence does not depend on human beings having any beliefs or other propositional attitudes towards them ; 2) social kinds whose existence depends in part on specific attitudes that human beings have towards them, though attitudes need not be manifested towards their particular instances ; 3) social kinds whose existence and that of their instances depend in (...) part on specific attitudes that human beings have towards them . Although all three kinds of social kinds are mind-dependent, this does not make them ontologically subjective or preclude them from being natural kinds. Rather, what prevents the third kind of social kinds from being natural kinds is that their properties are conventionally rather than causally linked. (shrink)

To differentiate between the laws of nature and accidental generalizations, we must adopt a view of necessity that is capable of being realized in relationships existing among natural objects. In neo-Sadraian Islamic philosophy, metaphysical necessity is accepted as part of the cause-effect relationship. This paper compares the neo-Sadraian interpretation of necessity and necessitarian theories about the laws of nature, particularly essentialism and universal theory. By resorting to specific forms al-shûrat al-naw’iyyah, the origin of the essential properties of natural objects, I (...) argue that neo-Sadraians have proposed a perspective on metaphysical necessity that is epistemologically a posteriori. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Cities of Alexander the GreatMuhammad Usman ErdosyP. M. Fraser. Cities of Alexander the Great. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. xii 1 263 pp. Cloth, $72.Fraser’s survey aims at determining “what cities [Alexander] did indeed found, how many out of the large number attributed to him by our various sources are actually historical, and in what sense” (vi). Resolving these issues requires the analysis of sources which are plagued by (...) inconsistent geographical information on the one hand, and a general silence concerning Alexander’s motives behind his foundations on the other. Consequently, Fraser opens with a critical survey of the Alexandrias listed in Stephanus of Byzantium’s as well as in the corpus of texts preserving, or inspired by, the Western traditions of the Alexander Romance. This is followed, in chapter 2, by an analysis of lists found in the Perso-Arabic and Syriac versions of the Romance. Having disposed of the baggage of mythical foundations, Fraser then identifies those Alexandrias which are authenticated by historical and geographical texts, in chapters 3 and 4, and attempts, in chapter 5, to locate them on the ground. In conclusion, chapter 6 considers Alexander’s motives in founding cities, and the Epilogue surveys the subsequent fortunes of those few foundations which Fraser feels justified at the end of his analysis in attributing to Alexander himself. The book is also supplied with appendices detailing the formation of the Alexander Romance and the accounts of Chinese pilgrims to India, with a table summarizing references to Alexander foundations known from literature, and with detailed indices.As in his Ptolemaic Alexandria, Fraser brings an encyclopedic knowledge of sources—both primary and secondary—to the issues at hand, reserving the text for general discussion and relegating detailed argumentation to the notes. Although the material available to him had been known to previous generations, his study is the first comprehensive survey of the various Alexander foundations since Tarn’s The Greeks in Bactria and India (Cambridge 1951). Unlike Tarn, however, he prefers to dismiss (or assimilate to attested foundations) most of the Alexandrias named in Stephanus and the Romance; some because they are unsubstantiated in historical and geographical texts, and others because they represent cities actually founded by the Seleucids. In doing so, he lays strong emphasis on identifying the “pre-texts” of the Alexander Romance (in appendix 2), as well as the political motivations of their Ptolemaic authors (in chapter 1), and while he concedes that his conclusion can “only be reached by as much unverifiable argument as that of Droysen and Tarn” (viii), this part of the book is highly valuable for creating a framework with which to approach the mythical accretions to Alexander’s historical achievements.Similarly useful is the analysis of Alexander’s aims in creating a network of new cities, in chapter 6, even if it is based only partly on statements attributable to Alexander, and relies heavily on patterns observable in his foundations, on general geopolitical considerations, and, consequently, on our ability to locate [End Page 133] the historical Alexandrias. As above, there is little to quarrel with in the general conclusion that the foundations represent rather Alexander’s ambition to recreate the Achaemenid Empire under Macedonian domination than an attempt to spread Greek culture, and that even reduced to a historical scale they are of a magnitude to foreshadow the strategic thinking of the British Raj.Although Fraser considers the task of locating authentic Alexander foundations subordinate to the study of sources, his assertion (102) that the historicity of the foundations does not rest, even partly, on their precise identification on the ground is surprising, given the inability of the textual evidence to resolve many geographical and historical questions, and the difficulty, just mentioned, of establishing Alexander’s motives in founding cities without pinpointing their location. Consequently, the lengthy excursus on topography, making up chapter 5, carries considerable importance. It also testifies to the complexity of the issues, since the evidence consists of conflicting geographical data regarding cities, which remain frequently unreconcilable with the archaeological record even when supplemented by the presumed course of troop movements, in turn determined by logistics and by the presumed political motives of... (shrink)