Summary of the Research Essays
Included in the 24th Issue of Al-Istighrab
é Descartes: The Philosopher Dwelling in the Cogito Cave


The 24th issue of the periodical journal Al-Istighrab, published in autumn 2021, includes a number of studies which address various aspects regarding the following topic: “René Descartes: The Philosopher Dwelling in the Cogito Cave”, in addition to essays on Islamic themes. In what follows is a brief overview of the essays in order of category.

Under the title “The Inverted Cogito”, the senior editor of Al-Istighrab, Mahmoud Haidar, presents an introductory essay where he demonstrates the general setbacks which befall Descartes’s theory of knowledge. This is followed by the main body of essays which contains articles by intellectuals and scholars from the Islamic World and the West.
Under the title “The Collapse of Cartesianism”, the French philosopher ةtienne Gilson approaches the final results reached by the Cartesian philosophical system, particularly concerning the systematic penetrations which Cartesianism was exposed to, among which is the complex relationship between the spirit and body of man.

In “Man and God in the Philosophy of Descartes”, the Iranian scholars Ali Asghar Mosleh and Rahmatollah Musavi Mogaddam rely on the viewpoint of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Tabataba’i to clarify that human beings in the philosophical system of Descartes are torn from their identities. This essay specifically explores the attribution of man to God according to Descartes’s philosophy and refutes it by relying on the standpoint of Sayyyed Tabataba’i.
In his study “The Philosopher of Specious Arguments”, the Egyptian scholar Mohammad Othman al-Khasht examines Descartes’s rationality concerning the overall fields of knowledge addressed by his philosophical system. Al-Khasht demonstrates the elements of weakness in Descartes’s rational methodology; he begins by refuting the claim to clearness and superiority in Descartes’s philosophy, then disproves the allegation of the firmness and meaningfulness of Descartes’s philosophical structure, and finally expresses the presence of a clear contradiction in Descartes’s doubt and certainty regarding the logic of nature from one hand and the logic of religious belief from the other and his inability to harmonize between them.

In “Descartes’s View Regarding God”, the Iranian researcher Saleh Hasan Zadeh strives to shed light on the metaphysical aspect in the philosophical system of Descartes. He elucidates the main problems in Descartes’s view regrading God which lead to the following problem: God according to Descartes has no ontological significance but rather an epistemological significance and is therefore far removed from the True God.
In “Analyzing Descartes”, the Moroccan researcher Idris Hani evaluates the manner in which Arab thought –preceded by Western thought- received the system of Descartes, how this system was dealt with, and the negative epistemological effects which stemmed from this reception.

In “Descartes and the Duality of Existence”, the Iranian scholar Mohammad Taqi Tabataba’i presents four aspects of difference between existence and quintessence. In doing so, he relies on Decartes’s methodology which recognizes the duality of existence and which has given rise to obscurity in the opinions and theories of Descartes, leading to a deficiency in his metaphysical interpretation of the realities in the world of existence and causing confusion to everyone who reads his writings.
In “The Errors of Descrates’s Methodology”, the Egyptian researcher Ghaydan al-Sayyed Ali criticizes and analyzes the philosophical system of Descartes, concentrating on the errors which permeated this methodology and particularly refuting the Clarity and Distinctness Rule, the most prominent rule in the rational methodology of Descartes.

Under the title “Cogitor ergo sum: On the meaning and relevance of Baader's theological critique of Descartes”, the German researcher Joris Geldhof presents a critical essay where he sheds light on the most prominent topics which the German philosopher Franz von Baader addressed in the philosophy of Descartes, especially the cogitor.
In “The Imprisoned Descartes”, the Lebanese researcher Mohammad Mahmoud Mortada analyzes and criticizes the foundational premises of the philosophy of Descartes, especially regarding the contradiction between strict rational certainty as a condition to acquire true knowledge and between acknowledgement of religious belief as an unflawed certainty.

In “Descartes and the God of Evil”, the Iranian researchers Mostafa Shahr Auyini and Azizeh Zayrak Baruqi examine the status and role of the “god of evil” in the process of Cartesian doubt and the extent of Descartes’s success in overcoming doubt, in addition to clarifying the problem which it seems the Cartesian philosophical system presents in this context.
In the section on Islamic themes, the Iranian researcher Mostafa Jaafari suggests in his essay “The Politics of Islam and Economic Justice” that the government of Imam Ali is an exceptional case in history, taking into consideration the features and virtues it demonstrated during its brief years of existence.

In “The Worldview of Islamicized Epistemology”, the researcher in Islamic thought Ahmad Abdullah Abu Zayd Al-‘Amili sheds light on the theory of Islamicized epistemology from the viewpoint of the Islamic intellectual Sayyed Mohammad Baqer al-Sadr, especially taking into account the process of regeneration and original interpretation regarding the various topics concerning the doctrinal and intellectual reality of Muslims in our modern day.