Document Type : Research

Authors

• Ali Akbar Bigdelo ¹
• Asghar Vaezi ²

¹ PhD Student, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

² Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

In his discussion of causality, David Hume searched for an impression that could be the origin of the concept of causality. He reduced causality to the contiguity and succession of two phenomena, denied the necessity previously conceived to exist between cause and effect, and relegated it to human mental custom and habit. On the other hand, Allamah Mohammad Hosein Tabataba'i considers the reality of causality to be beyond mere contiguity and succession between two things. In his view, causality means the dependence and reliance of the effect on the cause. Tabataba'i regards cause and effect as belonging to the second-order philosophical intelligibles, which are not grasped by the senses but are apprehended by the intellect. Tabataba'i's innovation in this regard is that he explains the manner in which second-order philosophical intelligibles arise through presential knowledge, thereby providing a foundation for the conception of cause and effect. In the present research, first, the views of Hume and Tabataba'i are analytically broken down into clearer and more elementary steps. Then, using a comparative approach, the points of commonality as well as the points of disagreement between the two views are clarified.

Keywords

• Origin of the Concept of Cause
• Necessary Connection
• Second-Order Philosophical Intelligibles
• Presential Knowledge

Main Subjects

• Islamic Philosophy