Muhammad Legenhausen

The Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute
  •  7
    Comparative Theology in the Islamic Sciences
    Journal of Philosophical Theological Research 25 (3): 37-54. 2023.
    This article provides a brief background of how Comparative Theology is understood today, to point out features of how it is practiced that are responsive to issues peculiar to contemporary Catholicism, and to suggest how a version of CT might be developed that is more consistent with Islamic traditions of thought on related issues. In order to accomplish this last goal, a brief introduction to the traditional “Islamic sciences” is provided. It will be suggested that an Islamic Comparative Theol…Read more
  •  85
    The Proof of the Sincere
    Journal of Islamic Philosophy 1 (1): 44-61. 2005.
    While the ontological arguments of Anselm and Descartes continue to be the source of controversy among philosophers and theologians in the West, scant attention has been paid to the ontological argument first formulated by Ibn Sina (370/980 - 429/1037), and thereafter reformulated by various Muslim philosophers throughout the centuries up to the present day. Here several versions of the argument will be presented in historical sequence, and some of the most important recent discussions of the ar…Read more
  •  10
    Epistemic Luck and Anti-Luck Epistemology in the View of Duncan Pritchard
    with Fatemeh Meshkibaf and Zahra Khazaei
    Journal of Philosophical Theological Research 25 (2): 5-32. 2023.
    The problem of epistemic luck arises when a person has a true belief that is only true by luck. Before Gettier, it was believed that the element of justification would be sufficient for knowledge; but he showed that it is possible to have a justified true belief that is not an example of knowledge because of the intrusion of luck. Duncan Pritchard has examined epistemic luck in an extensive and detailed manner. He offers a modal account of luck based on two elements: a possible-worlds analysis o…Read more
  •  2
    A Muslim’s Spirit
    In Christian Kanzian & Muhammad Legenhausen (eds.), Soul: A Comparative Approach, De Gruyter. pp. 133-156. 2010.
  • Preface of the Editors
    In Christian Kanzian & Muhammad Legenhausen (eds.), Soul: A Comparative Approach, De Gruyter. pp. 7-8. 2010.
  •  26
    This volume aims to investigate the topic of Substance and Attribute. The way leading to this aim is a dialogue between Islamic and Western Philosophy. Our project is motivated by the observation that the historical roots of Islamic and of Western philosophy are very similar. Thus some of the articles in this volume are dedicated to the history of philosophy in Islamic thinking as well as in Western traditions. But the dialogue between both philosophies is not only an historical issue, it also h…Read more
  •  2
    Soul: A Comparative Approach (edited book)
    De Gruyter. 2010.
    The leading idea of the book is to focus on the common roots of Islamic and Western traditions and to increase awareness of the chances of systematic philosophical dispute, with the aim to promote a substantial dialogue on an academic level. Most of the collected papers in this edition are results of contributions to a workshop, organized by the editors of the volume, as an integrated part of a visit to the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute (IKERI) of Qom by a delegation of philosop…Read more
  •  8
    Reasons, Emotions, and Evidentialism: Reflections on William Wainwright’s Reason and the Heart
    Journal of Philosophical Theological Research 24 (3): 49-76. 2022.
    In Reason and the Heart, William Wainwright defends a kind of religious evidentialism, one that takes int consideration the promptings of the heart, provided the heart is a virtuous one; and he claims that this view is able to avoid relativism. Here, Wainwright’s evidentialism is examined in relation to other views that have gone by that name. Wainwright’s position is briefly stated together with an expression of doubt about its ability to fend off relativism. Following this, an outline of the h…Read more
  •  90
    نسبی‌انگاری اخلاقی یکی از مکاتب کهن فرااخلاقی است که به وجود ویژگی‌های اخلاقی، و صدق و توجیه احکام اخلاقی می‌پردازد. با این حال، بخشی از بحث‌های مربوط به نسبی‌انگاری متوجّه معناشناسی جملات نسبی است. نظریات نسبی‌انگارانۀ سنّتی زمینه‌گرا هستند، به این معنا که احکام اخلاقی را دارای عنصری می‌دانند که به نحوی ارجاع به گوینده دارد. این دیدگاه نسبی‌انگاری را با چالش‌هایی مواجه می‌کند، از جمله این‌که اختلاف نظر که یکی از اسباب عمدۀ گرایش به نسبی‌انگاری است، به سوء تفاهم فروکاسته می‌شود. برخی نسبی‌انگارا…Read more
  •  19
    Religious Epistemology and Dialectic
    Journal of Philosophical Theological Research 21 (3): 43-58. 2019.
    Much recent discussion of the epistemology of religious belief has focused on justification of belief in the existence of God. Religious belief, however, includes much more than belief in God. In this paper, it is argued that the justification of belief in God is best seen in the context of other interrelated religious beliefs and practices. Philosophers of religion argue about whether religious belief requires evidence and on the sorts of arguments that have been presented. In this paper, a dia…Read more
  •  13
    Natural Properties in Ethics with an Emphasis on Shafer-Landau’s Theory
    with Hassan Heshmati and Hassan Miandari
    Journal of Philosophical Theological Research 20 (77): 23-44. 2018.
    Various criteria for the natural/non-natural distinction have been suggested in metaethics. Shafer-Landau first claimed that natural properties are properties that are used in scientific disciplines. But firstly, this definition is not comprehensive, and secondly it is ambiguous; according to the second criterion, two lists must be prepared; the first list includes terms that most people consider to be natural. The terms that are not included in the first list, are transferred to the list of non…Read more
  •  615
    Responding to the Religious Reasons of Others: Resonance and Non-Reducitve Religious Pluralism
    European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 5 (2): 23--46. 2013.
    Call a belief ”non-negotiable’ if one cannot abandon the belief without the abandonment of one’s religious perspective. Although non-negotiable beliefs can logically exclude other perspectives, a non-reductive approach to religious pluralism can help to create a space within which the non- negotiable beliefs of others that contradict one’s own non-negotiable beliefs can be appreciated and understood as playing a justificatory role for the other. The appreciation of these beliefs through cognitiv…Read more
  •  18
    Although Ibn Sina’s metaphysics is heavily indebted to Aristotle’s, with regard to the substantiality of the rational soul and God, Aristotle and Ibn Sina take opposite positions: Aristotle holds that theos is a substance, while Ibn Sina denies that God is a substance; Aristotle holds that the soul is not a substance, while Ibn Sina claims that it is. In both of these regards we observe the movement toward greater abstraction in Ibn Sina. The concept of God is more abstract when considered outsi…Read more
  •  235
    A Branched Model For Substantial Motion
    Journal of Shi‘a Islamic Studies 2 53-67. 2009.
    The seventeenth century Muslim philosopher Muhammad Sadr al-Din Shirazi, known as Mulla Sadra, introduced the idea of substantial motion in Islamic philosophy. This view is characterized by a continuity criterion for diachronic identity, a four-dimensional view of individual substances, the notion that possibilities change, and the continual creation of all creatures. Modern philosophical logic provides means to model a variety of claims about individuals, substances, modality and time. In this …Read more