Muhammad Baqir Al-Sadr's ground breaking work and according to him his most important. The author proposes a new formulation of the theory of human knowledge on the basis of an alternative foundation for the induction process. He introduces a new school of thought, Autogenousism, standing in contrast to both rationalism and empiricism, in which induction delivers certainty as its outcome. The current book, translated for the first time into English in its entirety, shows Al-Sadr's impressive mastery of the philosophical traditions, both Western and Islamic. This work fills, in Sadr's own words, a 2000-year gap in logic and philosophy and promises to usher in a new era of debate over the long-standing problem of induction.
Muhammad Baqir Al-Sadar (1935-1980) studied at Najaf seminary in Iraq and achieved the highest distinction in the field of Islamic jurisprudence. As an Islamic ideologue, he was also interested in responding to the challenges of modernity. As a critic of Saddam Hussein's brutal regime, he paid the price with his life as he was arrested on 5 April 1980 and killed three days later while in detention. Dr. Talib Janabi is a scientist by profession who has had a long-standing interest in philosophy and logic in general and the works of Muhammad Baqir Al-Sadr in particular. He has written and lectured extensively on the philosophy of matter and mind, Islamic philosophy and contemporary issues.