The relationship between perceptions and morals from Mulla Sadra's perspective

Document Type : Scientific-research

Authors

1 IMAM SADIQ UNIVERSITY- WOMEN S CAMPUS. TEHRAN. IRAN

2 Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology Imam Sadiq University-Women s Campus-Tehran-Iran.

10.48308/jipt.2025.238306.1595

Abstract

Perceptions and Dispositions are two aspects of human personality that have long been the subject of philosophers' study regarding their interrelationship. This research addresses how these two aspects interact according to Mulla Sadra's perspective. According to Sadra, considering dispositions as substantial and perceptions as existential, and their union with the soul, it is evident that dispositions and perceptions not only influence the substantial motion of the intensifying soul, but also affect each other. The findings of this study indicate mutual influence between them: firstly, the influence of dispositions on perceptual faculties, where the existential rank and substantial form of the soul direct the perceptual faculties and determine their capacity for focusing on purely material matters or the realm of the unseen. Secondly, the influence of perceptual faculties on dispositions, where repeated sensory, imaginative, illusionary, and intellectual data can stabilize the state of the soul in a particular direction and form a corresponding moral disposition. Analyzing Sadra's perspective in comparison to predecessors using descriptive and analytical methods reveals that the relationship between dispositions and perceptions contributes to the substantial perfection of the soul. Due to Sadra's belief in imaginal immateriality, these influences also accompany the human being after death.

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