Illuminating Modern Western Skepticism

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

* PhD., philosophy, ThD. Christian theology, Senior Professor of Christian Philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA 91182, U.S.A., ׀

Abstract

The goal of this article is to explain how the concept of Illumination came to be a source of skepticism in the modern West. In ancient and medieval Christian thought it was essentially tied not only to Plato’s philosophy, but especially to Augustine’s invention of the notion that the soul is an inner chamber containing all his knowledge, but also the locus of his encounter with God. The concept of the soul or mind as an inner chamber re-emerged in early modern western philosophy, but it was no longer open to illumination, John Locke having made revelation into an entirely distinct category of knowledge. The set of ocular metaphors of which illumination is a part still has an important place in ordinary language, but can no longer provide for a philosophical theory of knowledge. Thus, different complex metaphors need to be employed. Alasdair MacIntyre’s account of human reason begins with social practices, and can be described as an extensive thesis reflecting the metaphor Knowing as Doing. With his incorporation of Thomas Aquinas into his account of tradition-constituted rationality, it is suggested that interesting parallels might be found with the work of Mulla Sadra.

Highlights

References

-  Ahmed, E., & Tahir, A. R. (2018). Mulla Sadra’s Notion of Existence. Al-Hikmat: A Journal of Philosophy, 38, 11-27.

-  Aquinas, T. (1989). Summa Theologiae: A Concise Translation (T. McDermott, Ed.). Westminster, MD: Christian Classics.

-  Augustine of Hippo. De Trinitate (([400-416] 2000). Translations in Phillip Cary. Oxford: Oxford Unity Press.

-  Augustine, S. ([397-401] 1991). Confessions (H. Chadwick, Trans.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

-  Cary, P. (2000). Augustine’s Invention of the Inner Self: The Legacy of a Christian Platonist. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

-  Cooper, J. (1998). Mulla Sadra (Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi). In Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1st ed., Vol. 6, pp. 595–599). doi: 10.4324/9780415249126-L109-1

-  Dennett, D. C. (1991). Consciousness Explained. Illustrated by Paul Weiner. Boston, New York, & London: Little, Brown & Company.

-  Descartes, R. ([1637] 1999). Discourse on Method and Related Writings (1 edition; D. M. Clarke, Trans.). London: Penguin Books.

-  Kallenberg, B. J. (2001). Ethics as Grammar: Changing the Postmodern Subject (Reprint edition). University of Notre Dame Press.

-  Kerr, F. (1997). Theology After Wittgenstein (2nd edition). London: The Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge.

-  Khazaei, Z. (2018). Mulla Sadra on Virtue and Action. Religious Inquiries, 7(13), 55–73. doi: 10.22034/ri.2018.63730

-  Kirk, J. A., & Vanhoozer, K. J. (Eds.). (1999). The State of Claims to Truth. In To stake a claim: Mission and the Western crisis of knowledge (pp. xii–xvii). Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books.

-  Kretzmann, N., & Stump, E. (1998). Aquinas, Thomas. In Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1st ed., Vol. 1, pp. 326–350). doi: 10.4324/9780415249126-L109-1

-  Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1999). Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind & its Challenge to Western Thought. New York, NY: Basic Books.

-  Lash, N. (1986). Easter in Ordinary: Reflections on Human Experience and the Knowledge of God. Charlottesville, VA: The University Press of Virginia.

-  Locke, J. ([1690] 1961). An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Two volumes. Edited with an introduction by John Yolton. London: J. M. Dent and Sons.

-  MacDonald, S. (1998). Illumination. In Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1st ed., Vol. 4, pp. 698–700). doi: 10.4324/9780415249126-L109-1.

-  MacIntyre, A. ([1981] 1984). After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press.

-  MacIntyre, A. (1988). Whose Justice? Which Rationality? (1st edition). Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press.

-  MacIntyre, A. (1990). Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry: Encyclopaedia, Genealogy, and Tradition. Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press.

-  MacIntyre, A. (2009). God, Philosophy, Universities: A Selective History of the Catholic Philosophical Tradition (Reprint edition). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

-  MacKay, D. M., & Mackay, V. (1991). Behind the Eye. Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Mass., USA: Blackwell Pub.

-  Magee, B. (1999). Confessions of a Philosopher: A Personal Journey Through Western Philosophy from Plato to Popper. New York: Modern Library.

-  Morewedge, P., & Leaman, O. (1998). Islamic Philosophy. In Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1st ed., Vol. 5, pp. 16–21). doi: 10.4324/9780415249126-L109-1

-  Osman, F. (1997). Concepts of the Quran: A topical reading. Los Angeles, CA: MVI Publications.

-  Rizvi, S. (2019). Mulla Sadra. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2019). Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2019/entries/mulla-sadra/

-  Rorty, R. (1979). Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (1st edition). Princeton, N. J: Princeton University Press.

-  Sullivan, A. (1027). St. Thomas the Mystic. Dominican Journal, (1-2):14-22.

-  Sweetser, E. (1990). From Etymology to Pragmatics: Metaphorical and Cultural Aspects of Semantic Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

-  Wittgenstein, L. (1953). Philosophical Investigations (G. E. M. Anscombe, Trans.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Pearson.

-  Wittgenstein, L. (1958). The Blue and Brown Books. New York: Harper Torch books.

-  Wittgenstein, L. (1974). Philosophical Grammar (A. Kenny, Trans.). Berkeley: University of California Press.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

References
-  Ahmed, E., & Tahir, A. R. (2018). Mulla Sadra’s Notion of Existence. Al-Hikmat: A Journal of Philosophy, 38, 11-27.
-  Aquinas, T. (1989). Summa Theologiae: A Concise Translation (T. McDermott, Ed.). Westminster, MD: Christian Classics.
-  Augustine of Hippo. De Trinitate (([400-416] 2000). Translations in Phillip Cary. Oxford: Oxford Unity Press.
-  Augustine, S. ([397-401] 1991). Confessions (H. Chadwick, Trans.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
-  Cary, P. (2000). Augustine’s Invention of the Inner Self: The Legacy of a Christian Platonist. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
-  Cooper, J. (1998). Mulla Sadra (Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi). In Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1st ed., Vol. 6, pp. 595–599). doi: 10.4324/9780415249126-L109-1
-  Dennett, D. C. (1991). Consciousness Explained. Illustrated by Paul Weiner. Boston, New York, & London: Little, Brown & Company.
-  Descartes, R. ([1637] 1999). Discourse on Method and Related Writings (1 edition; D. M. Clarke, Trans.). London: Penguin Books.
-  Kallenberg, B. J. (2001). Ethics as Grammar: Changing the Postmodern Subject (Reprint edition). University of Notre Dame Press.
-  Kerr, F. (1997). Theology After Wittgenstein (2nd edition). London: The Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge.
-  Khazaei, Z. (2018). Mulla Sadra on Virtue and Action. Religious Inquiries, 7(13), 55–73. doi: 10.22034/ri.2018.63730
-  Kirk, J. A., & Vanhoozer, K. J. (Eds.). (1999). The State of Claims to Truth. In To stake a claim: Mission and the Western crisis of knowledge (pp. xii–xvii). Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books.
-  Kretzmann, N., & Stump, E. (1998). Aquinas, Thomas. In Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1st ed., Vol. 1, pp. 326–350). doi: 10.4324/9780415249126-L109-1
-  Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1999). Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind & its Challenge to Western Thought. New York, NY: Basic Books.
-  Lash, N. (1986). Easter in Ordinary: Reflections on Human Experience and the Knowledge of God. Charlottesville, VA: The University Press of Virginia.
-  Locke, J. ([1690] 1961). An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Two volumes. Edited with an introduction by John Yolton. London: J. M. Dent and Sons.
-  MacDonald, S. (1998). Illumination. In Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1st ed., Vol. 4, pp. 698–700). doi: 10.4324/9780415249126-L109-1.
-  MacIntyre, A. ([1981] 1984). After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press.
-  MacIntyre, A. (1988). Whose Justice? Which Rationality? (1st edition). Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press.
-  MacIntyre, A. (1990). Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry: Encyclopaedia, Genealogy, and Tradition. Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press.
-  MacIntyre, A. (2009). God, Philosophy, Universities: A Selective History of the Catholic Philosophical Tradition (Reprint edition). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
-  MacKay, D. M., & Mackay, V. (1991). Behind the Eye. Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Mass., USA: Blackwell Pub.
-  Magee, B. (1999). Confessions of a Philosopher: A Personal Journey Through Western Philosophy from Plato to Popper. New York: Modern Library.
-  Morewedge, P., & Leaman, O. (1998). Islamic Philosophy. In Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1st ed., Vol. 5, pp. 16–21). doi: 10.4324/9780415249126-L109-1
-  Osman, F. (1997). Concepts of the Quran: A topical reading. Los Angeles, CA: MVI Publications.
-  Rizvi, S. (2019). Mulla Sadra. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2019). Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2019/entries/mulla-sadra/
-  Rorty, R. (1979). Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (1st edition). Princeton, N. J: Princeton University Press.
-  Sullivan, A. (1027). St. Thomas the Mystic. Dominican Journal, (1-2):14-22.
-  Sweetser, E. (1990). From Etymology to Pragmatics: Metaphorical and Cultural Aspects of Semantic Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
-  Wittgenstein, L. (1953). Philosophical Investigations (G. E. M. Anscombe, Trans.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Pearson.
-  Wittgenstein, L. (1958). The Blue and Brown Books. New York: Harper Torch books.
-  Wittgenstein, L. (1974). Philosophical Grammar (A. Kenny, Trans.). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Send comment about this article
CAPTCHA Image

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics