The Evolution of the Soul in the Light of Moral Teachings with an Emphasis on Mulla Sadra's Perspectives

The theory of the influence of "practical philosophy and ethics" in the evolution of the soul, not only announces its supreme importance in going "beyond intellectual abstraction" in Sadra's philosophy, but also heralds a connection between these two concepts in his perspective. This article focuses on the philosophical contemplations of Mulla Sadra, and some of the concepts introduced by him (including corporeality of the soul in origination, substantial movement, levels of the soul, unity of intelligence and intelligible) – which in turn has a great importance in introducing and understanding the abstraction of the soul. According to Sadra, obliging to practical philosophy along with theoretical philosophy, are as wings to help mankind attain a level beyond intellectual abstraction, helping him in the path towards the divine and making him the book of divine transcendence. Mulla Sadra believes that both kinds of philosophy are equally significant: whereas theoretical philosophy is superior to practical philosophy in his book, Mulla Sadra regards theoretical and practical philosophy as complementary, in the sense that their combination leads to mankind's eternal felicity as well as the soul's resemblance to God. On the other hand, Mulla Sadra believes that "God has created mankind similar to Himself in nature, attribute, and deed." Thus we may conclude that to him adaptation of the soul to the acquired conceptions as well as moral purgation will result in an evolution of the soul beyond intellectual abstraction.