mīr dāmād on essence, existence and priority

Mīr dāmād, as a philosopher in islamic and peripatetic tradition, scrutinizes the issue of essence and existence. his main ideas are as follows: first, existence is not a real attribute; second, existence is nothing but to be existent; and third, essence is prior to existence. in this paper, i explain how these ideas can be interpreted within the context of the history of islamic philosophy. i shall interpret mīr dāmād's views on essence, existence and priority against most eminent figures in the tradition such as suhrawardī and avicenna among others. as i will argue, mīr dāmād proposes an innovative view within the peripatetic tradition, though he is following (his own interpretation of) avicenna's philosophy of existence.