The Philosophy of Mulla Sadra

The Philosophy of Mulla Sadra

This is one of the pioneering works on the life and works of Ṣadr al-Dīn Shirāzī (1572-1640), one of the greatest philosophers. It marks the dawn of a wider perspective on Islamic philosophy; a perspective that corrects the classical view held in the West that Islamic philosophy constituted a passing phenomenon and was merely a bridge between the late antiquity and the Latin High Middle ages. It provides a scholarly and serious introduction of Mullā Ṣadrā against the backdrop of the rich Islamic philosophic tradition; presents his essential teachings in a contemporary idiom; aims at a critical and analytical statement of his philosophy primarily con­tained in his monumental work Al-Asfār al-Arbaʿa and shows that Ṣadrā’s system, despite certain inner difficulties, is a highly original one revealing the extraordinary intellectual calibre of its author. The present work will further stimulate sorely needed philosophic research into this hitherto little explored but rich field of Islamic thought.

In thirteen densely written chapters, the books covers all the fundamental issues of Ontology, Theology, Psychology and Eschatology (Man and his Destiny) as elucidated by Mullā Ṣadrā in his magnum opus.