Critical Review of ʿAllama Tabatabaʾi’s ‎View of Intentionality

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Visiting researcher, University of Religions and Denominations

2 Level 3 student of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Al-Zahra Community, Qom: Iran

10.22081/jti.2025.69676.1054

Abstract

Intentionality, as a fundamental concept in the philosophy of mind, is essential to understanding how mental states are directed toward objects, concepts, or states of affairs. This article examines the theory of intentionality presented by ʿAllama Tabatabaʾi, with a focus on his Islamic philosophical framework. The research begins by defining the problem of intentionality, which concerns the nature, possibility, and content determination of mental states. We highlight how Tabatabaʾi’s grounding of intentionality in mental existence and immaterial knowledge provides a distinct perspective compared to contemporary naturalistic approaches. The study employs a qualitative, analytical, and comparative methodology, examining primary texts from Islamic philosophy, including works by Avicenna, Mullā Ṣadrā, and ʿAllama Tabatabaʾi, alongside modern Western discussions on intentionality. Through this critical lens, we identify Tabatabaʾi’s key contributions: the essential revelatory character of knowledge, the abstraction process in content determination, and the inseparable connection between mental existence and intentionality. The research findings reveal that while Tabatabaʾi’s model offers a metaphysically robust explanation of intentionality, it encounters significant challenges when evaluated in the context of contemporary cognitive science. Critiques include the lack of empirical testability, potential conceptual ambiguity for modern scholars unfamiliar with Islamic metaphysics, and the absence of a clear mechanistic explanation that aligns with materialist paradigms. Nevertheless, the article underscores the innovative nature of Tabatabaʾi’s approach in bridging classical Islamic thought with modern philosophical discourse. It also suggests potential interdisciplinary dialogues, especially with phenomenological perspectives that similarly emphasize the inherent directedness of consciousness. The findings contribute to a broader understanding of intentionality and open new avenues for future research on the integration of metaphysical and empirical frameworks in the philosophy of mind.

Keywords

References

  1. Fodor, J. (1987). Psychosemantics: the Problem of Meaning in the Philosophy of Mind. Cambridge, MA.: The MIT Press.
  2. Hickerson, R. (2007). The History of Intentionality: Theories of Consciousness from Brentano to Husserl. London: Continuum.
  3. Husserl, E. (1913). Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological Philosophy: First Book: General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology (F. Kersten, Trans.). The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
  4. Ibn Sīnā. (1983). Al-Taʿlīqāt. (A. R. Badawi, ed.). Qom: Islamic Propagation Office. [In Arabic]
  5. Ibn Sīnā. (1996). Al-Ishārāt wa-l-tanbīhāt, with Khwāja Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī’s commentaries. Qom: Nashr al-Balagha. [In Arabic]
  6. Jacob, P. (2014). “Intentionality.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2014 Edition). Edited by Edward N. Zalta. URL: <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2014/entries/intentionaity/>.
  7. Jacquette, D. (2004). “Brentano’s Concept of Intentionality.” In Jacquette, D. (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Brentano. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  8. Jacquette, Dale. (2009). The Philosophy of Mind: The Metaphysics of Consciousness. London: Continuum.
  9. Kim, J. (2010). Philosophy of Mind. Boulder: Westview Press.
  10. Kim, J. (2014). “Mentality and its criteria.” In Theories of dualism and behaviorism in the philosophy of mind, translated by Jafar Morvarid. Qom: Islamic Sciences and Culture Academy.
  11. Lowe, J. (2010). An introduction to the philosophy of mind. (A. Gholami, trans.). Tehran: Markaz Publication.
  12. Lyons, W. (1995). Approaches to Intentionality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  13. Mandik, P. (2010). Key Terms in Philosophy of Mind. London: A & C Black.
  14. Millikan, R. G. (2009). Biosemantics. In B. McLaughlin (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Mind, 281-291. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  15. Motahhari, M. (1985). Commentaries on Usul-i falsafi wa rawish riʾālīsm. Qom: Bidar Publication. [In Persian]
  16. Mullā Ṣadrā. (1981). Al-Ḥikmat al-mutaʿāliya fī al-asfār al-arbaʿa al-ʿaqliyya (The Transcendent Philosophy in the Four Journeys of the Soul) (Vol. 3, p. 297). Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī. [In Arabic]
  17. Niazi, A. A. (2008). The problem of mental existence and value of knowledge from the viewpoints of Avicenna, Shaykh al-Ishrāq, Mullā Ṣadrā, ʿAllama Tabatabaʾi, Shahid Motahhari, Javadi Amoli, and Mesbah Yazdi. MA dissertation, Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute in Qom, Iran. [In Persian]
  18. Sabzawārī, H. (1990). Sharḥ al-manẓūma. (H. Hassanzadeh Amoli, ed.). Tehran: Nab Publication. [In Arabic]
  19. Ṣadr al-Mutaʾallihīn, M.b.I. (1981). Al-Ḥikmat al-mutaʿāliya fī l-asfār al-arbaʿat al-ʿ Beirut: Dar Ihyaʾ al-Turath al-ʿArabi. [In Arabic]
  20. Ṣadr al-Mutaʾallihīn, M.b.I. (n.d.). Al-Ḥāshiya ʿalā ilāhiyyāt al-shifāʾ. Qom: Bidar Publication. [In Arabic]
  21. Shakeri, S. M. T. (2010). Intentionality and the nature of knowledge in Husserl’s phenomenology and Islamic philosophy. Qom: Boostan-e Ketab. [In Persian]
  22. Tabatabaʾi, S. M. H. (1981). Commentaries on al-Ḥikmat al-mutaʿāliya fī l-asfār al-arbaʿat al-ʿ Beirut: Dar Ihyaʾ al-Turath al-ʿArabi. [In Arabic]
  23. Tabatabaʾi, S. M. H. (2008). Usul-i falsafi wa rawish riʾālīsm. Qom: Boostan-e Ketab. [In Arabic]
  24. Tabatabaʾi, S. M. H. (n.d.(a)). Al-Rasāʾil al-tawḥīdiyya. Beirut: al-Nuʾman Institute. [In Arabic]
  25. Tabatabaʾi, S. M. H. (n.d.(b)). Bidāyat al-ḥ Qom: Islamic Publication Institute. [In Arabic]
  26. Tabatabaʾi, S. M. H. (n.d.(c)). Nihāyat al-ḥ Qom: Islamic Publication Institute. [In Arabic]
  27. Tye, M. (2007). New Troubles for the Qualia Freak in Philosophy of Mind. In B. P. McLaughlin & J. D. Cohen (Eds.), Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Mind, 303-319. London: Blackwell.
  28. Zalta, E. (1988). Internsional Logic and the Metaphysics of Intentionality. Cambridge, MA.: The MIT Press.
Theosophia Islamica

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 01 March 2023

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics