In a unique parallel analysis, Muhammad Kamal delves into the most controversial subjects of Islamic and Western existential philosophy. He describes the philosophical ‘turn’, ontological difference, becoming, and nothingness in the ontology of Mulla Sadra and Martin Heidegger. Through analysing the ontological enterprises of Sadra and Heidegger, Kamal shows how they both held that Being is the sole reality, and how both stood in opposition to Plato’s metaphysics. Despite hailing from different regions and eras, both Sadra and Heidegger viewed Plato’s philosophy as an established philosophical tradition which led to a state of untruth, or what Heidegger would have called ‘the oblivion of Being’. As Kamal explicates, Heidegger’s opposition to Plato became manifest in his deconstruction of the history of ontology, while Mulla Sadra’s opposition to Plato emerged through his criticism of the Iranian philosopher Suhrawardi’s doctrine of the principality of essence. These new interpretations of being by two philosophers brought new life to both Islamic and Western schools of philosophy and have formed the basis of much of modern ontology, epistemology, and philosophical psychology.

Sadradin Shirazi (1571-1640), known also as Mulla Sadra, spoke of the primacy of Being and promoted a new ontology, founding a new epistemology. Mulla Sadra's ontology is an important philosophical turn and contribution to the understanding of the development of Muslim philosophy and thought. This comprehensive study of Mulla Sadra's philosophical thought explores his departure from tradition; his turn to the doctrine of the primacy of Being; the dynamic characteristics of Being and the concept of substantial change; comparisons with Heidegger's fundamental ontology; and the influence of Mulla Sadra's ontology on subsequent Muslim philosophy. Of particular value to students of philosophy, Islamic and Middle Eastern studies, philosophy of religion, and general readers who seek to understand Muslim philosophy, this book explores the significance of the doctrine of Mulla Sadra and its impact on subsequent debates in the Muslim world.

This book is an interpretation of one of the central themes of Mulla Sadra’s philosophy of existence known as ‘transubstantial change’. It provides, for the first time in English, a comprehensive analysis of transubstantial change in light of Sadrian ontology and its impact on some philosophical issues such as identity, values, and truth. As the author elucidates, in transubstantial change nothing is indestructible and everything in the world, including substance, is inconstant renewal.

A “well-crafted and careful rendering of an important and demanding volume” covering the philosopher’s views on language, life, and politics (Andrew Mitchell, Emory University). In these lectures, delivered in 1933-1934 while he was Rector of the University of Freiburg and an active supporter of the National Socialist regime, Martin Heidegger addresses the history of metaphysics and the notion of truth from Heraclitus to Hegel. First published in German in 2001, these two lecture courses offer a sustained encounter with Heidegger’s thinking during a period when he attempted to give expression to his highest ambitions for a philosophy engaged with politics and the world. While the lectures are strongly nationalistic, they also attack theories of racial supremacy in an attempt to stake out a distinctively Heideggerian understanding of what it means to be a people. This careful translation offers valuable insight into Heidegger’s views on language, truth, animality, and life, as well as his political thought and activity.

The Essence of Truth is an examination of the most fundamental theme in Heidegger's philosophy: the difference between truth as 'the unhiddenness of beings' and truth as 'the correctness of propositions'. Based on a course of lectures delivered at the University of Freiburg in 1932, the book presents Heidegger's original analysis of Plato's philosophy and represents an important discussion of a fundamental subject of philosophy through the ages.

Comparative philosophy, like other types of philosophy, is a sort of dialogue among philosophers. But whereas dialogue among philosophers in the traditional branches of philosophy is usually in the form of duologue, in comparative philosophy three interlocutors are involved. Participants in a dialogue of the type which is common in comparative philosophy need not be contemporaneous. Nor do they need to speak the same language or belong to the same tradition. Of the three interlocutors in a dialogue of the type relevant to comparative philosophy, the one who plays the role of the go-between among the other two is the true practitioner of ‘comparative philosophy’ or, to coin a term, the true ‘comparative philosopher’, i.e, the one who is actually engaged in the process of comparing philosophies and reflecting upon the finesse of the art of comparison of views. The comparative philosopher is an interpreter, a commentator, a critic, a connoisseur of good philosophical arguments and interesting ideas, an educator, and a communicator. This last characteristic pertains to the role the comparative philosopher plays vis-à-vis contemporary and future audiences.