Evaluation of Mirdamad’s View on the Primacy or Ideality of Existence

Abstract

One of the fundamental issues in Islamic philosophy is the primacy of existence or essence. Its outcome will be manifested in attributes, cognation and the existential relationship between creator and creature.  It is known that Mirdamad is opponent of primacy of essence. There are evidences in his books that he is opponent of primacy of existence such as effusion of existence by God, homogeneity between the existence of God and the existence of contingent beings, proof of the truthful, equality between existence and individuation, the state of the contingent beings as connective, the unitary system of the word and... . We can draw the conclusion that their differences are a verbal one. In his work, we should distinguish between the consideration of infinitive and real existence. In his philosophy, there is a difference between existence and establishment (tagharor). Establishment in his philosophy is equivalent with the existence in Sadra’s philosophy and by substituting them the difference will be disappeared.