Mulla Sadra and Metaphysics Modulation of Being by Sajjad H. Rizvi (London and New York: Routledge, 2009. hbk. 222 pages)

Abstract

Mullā Ṣadrā and Metaphysics: Modulation of Being appears at a time when
the study of Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī’s philosophy has reached a critical mass.
Critical editions of Shirazi’s works are available, and there are numerous
studies on aspects of his thought. Rizvi has done an excellent job of synthesizing
this information, examining it critically and building on it to push
Sadrian studies forward. The philosophical question that Rizvi explores in
this book is: “[h]ow can we reconcile the vision of the unity in existence
and the quest for a singular explanation for reality with our everyday, phenomenal
experience of plurality and multiplicity?” (xi). Rizvi approaches
this question both as a philosopher and a historian of philosophy.
The aim of this study is to examine Shirazi’s central philosophical
idea—the modulation of being—and to use this idea to understand his
philosophy. Whereas most studies on Shirazi have focused on Kitāb al-
Mashā‘ir or al-Ḥikma al-‘arshīya, Rizvi focuses on the section on metaphysics
in Shirazi’s most important work Al-Ḥikma al-muta‘ālīya, or simply
the Asfār. There are two major theses in this book. One, “tashkīk is a
hermeneutic concept which describes the threefold division of being and
its gradation,” and two, “gradation and modulation occur in each mode of
being” (3). As Rizvi points out, “being in expression” is the foundation of
Shirazi’s semantic theory; “mental being” is about epistemology and psychology;
and “actual being” covers metaphysics. “Modulation,” then, is
the axis around which different branches of Shirazi’s philosophy revolve ...