Mīr Dāmād and the school of Isfahan — the unity and difference of philosophy, kalām and tradition

Abstract

Sedigheh Khansari Mousavi illustrates how theology and philosophy do not necessarily have to be opposites, and can even mutually condition each other, using the example of Mīr Dāmād, who is considered one of the most important representatives of the school of Isfahan. His work al-Īqāẓāt serves as an opportunity to revisit and discuss the Kalam, which led debate about the "theory of action" and the "chain of causality". Like Mīr Dāmād who in his treatise on the question of human actions and their causes, the author by means of a detailed structural analysis demonstrates that the revelation (waḥy) and understanding reason ('aql) are perfectly compatible with one another.