Abu Ya’qub al-Sijistani (fl. 971) Abu Ya‘qub al-Sijistani was first and foremost a member of the Ismaili underground mission — the da‘wa, as it is known in Arabic — that operated in the Iranian province of Khurasan and Sijistan during the tenth century. In the later part of his life, al-Sijistani was or had become a supporter of the Fatimids imams, then ruling from their

Paradigm Case Arguments From time to time philosophers and scientists have made sensational, provocative claims that certain things do not exist or never happen that, dans la vie de tous les jours, we unquestioningly take for granted as existing or happening. These claims have included denying the existence of matter, espace, temps, le soi, libre volonté, and other sturdy and basic elements of our common-sense or naïve world-view. Around

Modal Metaphysics Modal metaphysics concerns the metaphysical underpinning of our modal statements. These are statements about what is possible or what is necessarily so. We can construe the primary question of modal metaphysics as, “When we make a statement about what is possible or necessary, what determines the truth or falsity of the statement?” As an illustration, consider the statement “It is possible for me

Guidelines for Authors Authors should follow these guidelines before submitting their final draft. Here are some noteworthy stylistic points that are different from those in journal articles: Avoid all Latin abbreviations such as “etc.” Avoid all contractions such as “don’t.” Do not use the words “recent” or “now” since they likely will be inapplicable fifty years in the future. Do not cite forthcoming articles. Use

Jean Bodin (c. 1529—1596) The humanist philosopher and jurist Jean Bodin was one of the most prominent political thinkers of the sixteenth century. His reputation is largely based on his account of sovereignty which he formulated in the Six Books of the Commonwealth. Bodin lived at a time of great upheaval, when France was ravaged by the wars of religion between the Catholics and the