Metamorphosis of the Word “Concomitance” in Islamic Philosophy and Kalām
Subject Areas : ریشهشناسی واژگان (اتیمولوژی) فلسفی
1 - PhD candidate of Transcendent Philosophy, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Level 4 Seminary student and lecturer at Khorasan Seminary, Mashhad, Iran
Keywords: concomitance, equality, unity in direction of truth, concomitance of existence and unity,
Abstract :
Presently, the term “concomitance” in Islamic philosophy means equality in referents alongside unity in truth. Whenever, two words include all their referents and apply to all of them from a single aspect, they are concomitants. The historical-analytic study of “concomitance” in Islamic philosophy and kalām indicates that this term was used in a different meaning before ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī and even his own words. According to the meaning given above, “concomitance’ is used in a general sense including equality in both referent and concept. The author believes that the assumption of unity in the direction of truth as one of the semantic bases of this term has only been propounded by some of the students of ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī. Hence, it cannot be used in its present meaning in the words of early mutīkallīmūn and philosophers. The present paper, examines the meaning of “concomitance” in two different periods: before and after ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī. The author initially investigates the lexical meaning of “concomitance” and its functions and applications in the words of mutīkallīmūn and philosophers and demonstrates that its common meaning of their time was different from what is common today. Then, after a meticulous study of ‘Allāmah Ṭabāṭabā’ī’s words, he proves that this great philosopher also used this term in the same sense that his predecessors did. Finally, he explores and criticizes the arguments of the advocates of the new interpretation of “concomitance” and challenges their ideas. To support his argument by an example, the author provides a historical analysis of the “concomitance of existence and unity” in Islamic kalām and philosophy.