Musing over the Authority of Reason Restricted to Perceptions Close to the Sense and Praised Views

The human intelligence is one of the sources of derivation of Islamic laws. There is no doubt about this faculty being a valid and authoritative source according to Shia school of jurisprudence. When it comes to the limits and extent of the authority of reason ('aql), an extensive discussion has taken place among the scholars of Ilm alUsul but still there is not a comprehensive and complete standpoint and a perfect image that might have meticulously studied and reflected the different layers of the issue. The writer of this article critically assesses two famous views in this connection one being "the authority of reason restricted to perceptions close to the sense" and the other being "the authority of reason being restricted to praised views (Aarai mahmooda).