Existence and Knowledge

Existence and Knowledge

The Place of Physical World, and its Connection to Humans, from the point of view of Ibn Arabi and Meister Eckhart

Document Type : Research Article

Authors
MohammadMahdi Abdolalinejad 1
Ahmad Fazeli 2
1 PhD student of comparative philosophy, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, university of Qom, Qom, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Department of Philosophy of Ethics, University of Qom, Qom, Iran.
10.22096/ek.2023.562612.1467
Abstract
Despite the fact that Ibn Arabi and Eckhart agree and are similar to each other in many principles, they differ in their emphasis on God's "analogy" and "purification". This difference of opinion, which at first seems insignificant compared to many of their common opinions, leads to a deep difference and even conflict between the thoughts of our two thinkers in the issue of "the place of physical world". Therefore, "the physical world" and its place can be considered as a problem that highlights the differences between Ibn Arabi's and Eckhart's views - in spite of all the similarities and consensus. Even common doctrines such as "the unity of existence" and "the creation of man in the image of God" cannot reduce the deep disagreement between Ibn Arabi and Eckhart on the issue of the place of the world. As it will be proven, Ibn Arabi uses these two teachings in order to sanctify the world and multitudes. But Eckhart interprets these two doctrines in a way that leads to disdain the universe and multitudes.
Keywords
multiplicity
image
analogy
purification
physical world
negative theology
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Existence and Knowledge
Volume 8, Issue 2 - Serial Number 16
Fall 2021- Winter 2022 - Issue 16
March 2022
Pages 167-186