ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Philosophical Instructions Lesson One: A Glance at the Course of Philosophical Thought: (From Its Origins to the Islamic Epoch) The Beginning of Philosophical Thought The history of human thought as well as the creation of man goes back beyond history. Wherever he has lived, thought has been an inseparable characteristic of man. Wherever he has placed his feet, he has taken thinking and intellection with him.

There is no certain and precise information about the unwritten thoughts of man except that which has been surmised by archaeologists on the basis of uncovered remains. However, written thought has remained behind as caravan of history has passed, since the time of written language. Among the kinds of human thought, that which is related to the knowledge of existence and to its beginning and end, at first were mixed with religious beliefs.

Therefore it may be said that one must look for the oldest philosophical thoughts among oriental religious thoughts. Historians of philosophy believe that the most ancient collections that are purely philosophical or that are predominantly philosophical are related to the Greek sages, who lived approximately six centuries before Christ (peace be with him). Scholars of that time are mentioned who have tried to come to know existence, and the beginning and end of the cosmos.

In order to interpret the appearance and changes that occur in existents, they expressed different and occasionally contradictory opinions, and at the same time, they do not hide the fact that their thoughts were influenced more or less by oriental religious beliefs and culture. In any case, the free atmosphere for discussion and criticism in the Greece of those days prepared the ground for developing and taking pride in philosophical thought. That area was turned into a nursery for philosophy.

Naturally, the beginning thoughts were not properly organized and arranged, and the problems for research were not precisely categorized, let alone that each category should have a specific name and title and characteristic method. In sum, all ideas were called science ( ‘ilm ), wisdom ( hikmat ) and knowledge ( ma‘rifat ), and the like.

The Appearance of Sophism and Skepticism In the fifth century B.C., scholars are mentioned who in the Greek language were called “sophists”, that is, sage and learned.