ABSTRACT
By imitating and interpreting the wisdom of the prophets, Shi'i moral philosophy transfigures divine law and changes it into an inner movement of the soul, into the creative spontaneity of a new man. In Shi'ism, the need for philosophy originates in exegesis and in the attitude of a few learned individuals who believed that nobody better than they – the true philosophers – was able to unveil the most secret meanings of the divine revelation. Quite naturally, these learned philosophers claimed authority, calling themselves the ultimate 'ulama', "those who possess knowledge". Shi'i philosophy can accommodate classical Greek science and its two masters, Plato and Aristotle. It absorbs all the secret wisdom of the Abrahamic model. Shi'i philosophy makes rational use of philosophical concepts in order to give a more rational meaning to Qur'anic verses, and, conversely, it invokes the verses and the letter of the Revelation to identify the problems that philosophy should consider.
