{"id":1290,"date":"2014-02-28T12:33:56","date_gmt":"2014-02-28T12:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spektrum.irankultur.com\/?p=1290"},"modified":"2015-11-30T14:33:26","modified_gmt":"2015-11-30T14:33:26","slug":"rene-guenons-doctrine-of-metaphysics-as-foundation-of-islamic-humanities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/spektrum.irankultur.com\/?p=1290","title":{"rendered":"Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9non\u2019s Doctrine of Metaphysics as Foundation of Islamic Humanities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prof. Dr. <\/strong>Roland Pietsch <\/strong><\/p>\n

Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9non, known in the Islamic world as Shaykh \u00b4Abd al W\u0101\u1e25id Ya\u1e25y\u0101 (1886\u20131951), was one of the most important representatives of the Sophia perennis (Gu\u00e9non 2001a: 77, Schuon 1979: 133\u2013137) in the twentieth century.<\/p>\n

His works are mainly concerned with a profound critique of the modern world from a metaphysical point of view, a renewed exposition of the immutable principles of universal metaphysics, the traditional sciences and finally symbolism.<\/p>\n

The following paper presents at first the main elements of universal metaphysics. Then the relation between metaphysics and sciences will be demonstrated, whereas the difference between traditional and modern sciences will be examined. After that, follows a short presentation of some elements of traditional sciences of logic and mathematics.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Metaphysics <\/strong><\/p>\n

For explaining metaphysics, Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9non[1]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a> told in his lecture at the University Sorbonne in 1925: \u201cIt should be made clear just what is meant by the word \u2018metaphysics\u2019, and all the more so since I have frequently had an opportunity to note that not everyone understands it in quite the same way. I think the best course to take in dealing with words that might give rise to ambiguity is to restore to them as much as possible their primal and etymological meaning. Now, according to its composition, the word \u2018metaphysics\u2019 means literally \u2018beyond physics\u2019, taking the word \u2018physics\u2019 in the accepted sense it was always used by the ancients, that is to say as \u2018knowledge of nature\u2019 in the widest sense. Physics is the study of all that pertains to the domain of nature; metaphysics, on the other hand, is the study of that which lies beyond nature\u201d (Gu\u00e9non 2001a: 88), and thus is supernatural.<\/p>\n

Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9non states that it is not possible to define metaphysics, \u201cbecause to define is always to limit, and what is under consideration, in and of itself, is truly and absolutely limitless and thus cannot be confined to any formula or any system whatsoever\u201d(Gu\u00e9non 2004:89 f).Metaphysics can only be partially characterized for example, that it \u201cis essentially the knowledge of the Universal, or the knowledge of principles belonging to the universal order, which moreover alone can validly lay claim to the name of principles\u201d (ibid.: 71).<\/p>\n

Thus the metaphysical knowledge differs radically from the other modes of human knowledge. This raises the question of which approach to metaphysics can be found.<\/p>\n

Before Gu\u00e9non answers, he states: \u201cMetaphysics can only be studied metaphysically\u201d (ibid.: 74). Basically, it is considered that metaphysical conceptions \u201ccan never be completely expressed, nor even imagined, since their essence is attainable by the pure and \u2018formless\u2019 intelligence alone; they vastly exceed all possible forms, especially the formulas in which language tries to enclose them, which are always inadequate and tend to restrict their scope and therefore distort them. These formulas, like all symbols, can only serve as a starting-point, a \u2018support\u2019 so to speak, which acts as an aid towards understanding that which in itself remains inexpressible; it is up to each man to try to conceive it according to the extent of their own intellectual powers, making good, in proportion to their success, the unavoidable deficiencies of formal and limited expression\u201d (ibid.: 74 f).<\/p>\n

The pure intellect and metaphysical knowledge <\/strong><\/p>\n

A very important aspect of metaphysics concerns the means of metaphysical knowledge. Metaphysical knowledge as a knowledge of the Universal doesn\u2019t know the distinction between subject and object. When one also speaks of the means of attaining metaphysical knowledge, \u201cit is evident that such means can only be one and the same thing as knowledge itself, in which subject and object are essentially unified\u201d (ibid.: 75). It follows from this that the means in question is not a discursive faculty such as individual human reason. On the contrary, \u201cmetaphysical truths can only be conceived by the use of a faculty that does not belong to the individual order, and that, by reason of the immediate character of its operation, may be called \u2018intuitive\u2019\u201d (ibid.: 75 f), but intuition not understood as the instinctive and vital faculty of some modern philosophers.<\/p>\n

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PDF:<\/a> Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9non\u2019s Doctrine of Metaphysics as Foundation of Islamic Humanities<\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a> On the life and work of Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9non see: Chacornac 1958, Laurent 1975, id. 2006, Robin 1983, id. 1986, Gilis 1986, Sigaud 1984, Waterfield 1987, Lognetti 1996, Accard 2001, id. 2005, Vivenza 2002, Feydel 2003, Schuon 2004, de Maistre 2004, \u2018Abd al-Halim 2007, Bisson 2013.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prof. Dr. Roland Pietsch Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9non, known in the Islamic world as Shaykh \u00b4Abd al W\u0101\u1e25id Ya\u1e25y\u0101 (1886\u20131951), was one of the most important representatives of the Sophia perennis (Gu\u00e9non 2001a: 77, Schuon 1979: 133\u2013137) in the twentieth century. His works are mainly concerned with a profound critique of the modern world from a metaphysical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/spektrum.irankultur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/spektrum.irankultur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/spektrum.irankultur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/spektrum.irankultur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/spektrum.irankultur.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1290"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/spektrum.irankultur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1559,"href":"http:\/\/spektrum.irankultur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1290\/revisions\/1559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/spektrum.irankultur.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/spektrum.irankultur.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/spektrum.irankultur.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}