The World Congress on Mulla Sadra

Abstract

The World Congress on Mulla Sadra was held May 22-27, 1999, in Tehran, Iran. Sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Congress drew more than three hundred local and intemational speakers who presented papers on various aspects of the philosophy of Sadr al-Din Shirazi (d. 1640) , commonly known as Mulla Sadra. The scope of the Congress, however, was not confined to the philosophy of Mulla Sadra, papers with other points of interest and focus were also presented. The Congress can be describd as consisting of three concentric circles: the first, focusing exclusively on Sadrean studies; the second, ranging from Islamic philosophy to Sdism and kafam; and the third, extending to subjects as diverse as Muslims in China and Western philosophy. In addition to Islamic thought, there was also a sepamte section on Western philosophy, primarily focusing on analytic philosophy, in which many Westem scholars and philosophers participated. The Congress began with a reading of a brief welcome speech by the director of the Congress, Ayatollah Muhammad Khamanei. The keynote address, and the concluding speech of the day, was delivered by Iranian president Muhammad Khatami, who talked about the importance of Islamic philosophy in general and Sadra's thought in particular for the future of Islamic world. For the remainder of the Congress, each day, four simultaneous sessions were conducted in the Conference Hall of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). The Islamic philosophy section, which was the main body of the Congress, was divided into four major subdivisions: Transcendent Philosophy of Mulla Sadra, Comparative Philosophy, Islamic Philosophy, and Gnosis and Sufism. Here the speakers focused on various aspects of the philosophy of Mulla Sadra, ranging from his ontology and epistemology to his eschatology and commentaries on Qur'anic verses. Mulla Sadra, who is considered to be one of the most impom figures of the post-Avicennan Islamic philosophy, was both an original thinker and a first-rate historian of philosophy. With his notion of the primacy of being (asalat al-wujud) and his celebrated idea of substantial ...