A Critical Investigation of Good and Badness in Mohaqiq Isfahani's Thought

For addressing the issue of good and badness, we need to expound, three main questions: essential good and badness, rational good and badness and the type of the propositions of good and badness. The main question that arises is: Are essential good and badness associated with actions? Is man’s intellect capable of recognizing the goodness and badness of actions? Are the propositions of good and badness part of certain propositions which are rooted in the fact and fact-itself or part of the famous propositions in its strict sense, on which there is agreement among the sages? Using a descriptive-analytical method, this research seeks to explain and evaluate Mohaqiq Isfahani's views. Mohaqiq Isfahani considers good and badness which corresponds to essential praiseworthiness or blameworthiness as part of the essential accidents of actions, and seeking confirmation, he accepts the idea that sages can recognize the goodness and badness of things according to partial affirmation. He considers the propositions of goodness justice and badness of injustice as famous propositions in their strict sense and considers sage's unanimous agreement as the only way of confirming their validity. His views, though have certain strong points, have some weaknesses, on which this paper elaborates.