Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
Al-Hikmat al-Muta'aliya fi'l-Asfar al-'Aqliyya al-Arba'a
The primacy of existence over essence — and the doctrine of substantial motion, change at the level of substance, not just accident
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Al-Hikmat al-Muta'aliya fi'l-Asfar al-'Aqliyya al-Arba'a (Late (the synthesis of his entire mature philosophy)) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Infinite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Emergent |
| Matter · Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Partial |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Both |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Personal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Scripture |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Infinite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Reversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Continuous |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Al-Hikmat al-Muta'aliya fi'l-Asfar al-'Aqliyya al-Arba'a
Four spiritual journeys as structural scheme; substantial motion as time-internal dynamic.
Space
Al-Hikmat al-Muta'aliya fi'l-Asfar al-'Aqliyya al-Arba'a
Emanative hierarchy of intelligences and souls.
Matter
Al-Hikmat al-Muta'aliya fi'l-Asfar al-'Aqliyya al-Arba'a
Substance subject to substantial motion — not stably itself but in self-transformation.
Observer
Al-Hikmat al-Muta'aliya fi'l-Asfar al-'Aqliyya al-Arba'a
The philosophical-mystical traveller undertaking the four journeys.
Energy
Al-Hikmat al-Muta'aliya fi'l-Asfar al-'Aqliyya al-Arba'a
Dynamic of being itself — energetic procession from necessary Being.
Information
Al-Hikmat al-Muta'aliya fi'l-Asfar al-'Aqliyya al-Arba'a
Principle of asalat al-wujud and substantial motion as central informational claims.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
Contested by Akhbari traditionalists, strict Avicennians, and parts of the Sufi tradition. Curriculum dominance has preserved but somewhat ossified the work; contemporary Sadrian philosophy continues to develop the tradition.