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 ...