Theory of Reign, Shahid Sadr's Answer to the Question of Determinism

Abstract

The problem of determinism is one of the complicated philosophical and theological issues that various answers have been offered by the thinkers for its resolution. One of the exact and from one perspective exclusive answers belongs to Shahid Sadr. He has sought to distinguish between the question of "Who is the agent?" and "Is the agent free?" and in this way prevent from the confusion of theological and philosophical aspects. According to Shahid Sadr, the main question the answer of which can uproot determinism as a whole is the second question. The origin of this question can be traced back to the philosophical principle of "an object cannot exist as long as it has not turned necessary". According to this maxim, human actions become realized when they turn necessary. Now how could a man be free while his action has existential necessity? Having refuted the answers given by previous scholars, Shahid Sadr seeks after the solution in particularization of this rational maxim. He has suggested the "theory of Reign" as regards modalities of judgment. Thus, he rephrases the maxim as follows: "an object cannot exist but by necessity or Reign". The current essay is an effort for explanation of the theory of Reign and Shahid Sadr's answer to the question of determinism and the objections leveled against it and their answers.