Comparative Anthropology from the View Point of Mulla Sadra and Ibn Arabi

The present paper examines man’s knowledge from the perspectives of Ibn Arabi and Mulla Sadra and compares the views of these two thinkers. Ibn Arabi considers the knowledge of the soul as the knowledge of the God and Mulla Sadra regards it as an example of truth. Ibn Arabi uses the method of intuition in man’s knowledge, but he also values common sense. In a similar vein, Mulla Sadra values intuition and even considers it superior to reason, but in his works, he expresses only what is provable with a definite proof and considers intuition as a helper of reason. Ibn Arabi defines the true differentia of man as the divine form and Mulla Sadra defines man as the talking animal. Finally, what Mulla Sadra introduces as actual man is what Ibn Arab considers as the true differentia of man. He considers the truth of man as being the one shadow of the unity of the truth and regards the other powers of the soul as his states. He considers the soul as "bodily origination and spiritual survival" and the end of man as a perfect human being, the one the world will never be without him and that who will appear in a special person at any time.