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        1 - Mullā Ṣadrā’s View of the Potentials originating in Man’s Rational Immateriality: Factors and Obstacles
        Najimeh Mansouri Furugh al-Sadat  Rahimpoor Jafar  Shanazari
        In Mullā Ṣadrā’s view, the soul can attain some kinds of immateriality, which can lead to the development of specific features and capabilities for human beings. The present study investigates Mullā Ṣadrā’s analysis of the quality of the soul’s attainment of different l More
        In Mullā Ṣadrā’s view, the soul can attain some kinds of immateriality, which can lead to the development of specific features and capabilities for human beings. The present study investigates Mullā Ṣadrā’s analysis of the quality of the soul’s attainment of different levels of rational immateriality, the influential factors in this process, the existing obstacles there, and the characteristics created through this immateriality in worldly life. Upon the rational faculty’s reaching its habitual stage, the soul arrives at the borderline of rational immateriality, and utmost immateriality is gained at the level of acquired reason. The reinforcement of practical intellect, love, and prayer are among the factors affecting man’s reaching the different levels of rational immateriality. However, there are some obstacles to this process such as yielding to whims, committing sins, imitating others, and loving the world. At its lowest level, rational immateriality creates speech in human beings and makes it possible for them to distinguish between the good and evil. Through the promotion of the level of immateriality, man can consciously try to begin their journey toward God and, at the highest level, they become qualified for the station of guardianship. Given Mullā Ṣadrā’s idea of the quality of the rational immateriality of the soul, the philosophical explanation of some of the duties of the Prophet(ṣ), such as receiving revelation and developing certainty about its legitimacy, becomes possible. Manuscript profile
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        2 - Spiritual Journey Based on Dialectical Wayfaring in Plato’s Philosophy and its Compatibility with Gnostic Journeys
        Atiye Zandieh Leila Eftekhari
        In Plato’s philosophy and Islamic gnostic tradition, the world and Man enjoy two corporeal and spiritual dimensions. Man’s spiritual dimension can have ascending and descending journeys in the worlds of being. In Islamic gnosis, going through the levels of being – the f More
        In Plato’s philosophy and Islamic gnostic tradition, the world and Man enjoy two corporeal and spiritual dimensions. Man’s spiritual dimension can have ascending and descending journeys in the worlds of being. In Islamic gnosis, going through the levels of being – the five divine presences – has been explained by resorting to the four-fold journeys, which include moving from the creature to the truth, traversing the truth, moving from the truth to the creature and, finally, travelling with the truth in the creature. The spiritual journey in Plato’s philosophy can be explained by using the dialectical wayfaring, analogy of the divided line, and the allegory of the cave. Plato generally dealt with this spiritual journey and did not intend to classify its levels. However, his views can be formulated in a way to conform to these four journeys. In this way, spiritual journey in Plato’s philosophy will include the following four stages: moving from shadows to the world of Ideas, traveling through the Ideas, moving from the world of Ideas to the world of sensibles and, finally, traveling with the Ideas in shadows. Therefore, given the differences between these two schools of thought regarding their views of the highest levels of being and the perfect Man, the first, second, and fourth journeys can be more clearly matched with each other. The third journey can also be matched with one of them but not as clearly as the other three. Gnostics’ religious views, their emphasis on ascetic practice and purification of the soul, and the long time interval between these two systems of thought have resulted in a number of great differences between them. Manuscript profile