An Analytic Study of Mullā Ṣadrā’s Criticisms of Mutikallīmūn’s Views of Man’s Identity

The Problem of the corporeal nature of what is other than God is of particular importance among Kalāmī theorems and is also among the few discussions about which almost all Kalāmī trends are unanimous. Mutikallīmūn believe that everything other than God, including Man and other existents, are bodily entities and introduce immaterial existents as absolutely perfect and self-sufficient truths. The exoteric, objective, and inclusive Kalāmī view necessitates and confirms the corporeality of Man’s identity and truth. Mullā Ṣadrā was among the thinkers who opposed mutikallīmūn’s corporealist view and tried to present a comprehensive and philosophical interpretation of Man’s reality and identity or an image which could exercise a positive influence on their individual and social life. Following a descriptive and documentary method and content analysis, the present study presents a critical review of Mullā Ṣadrā’s approach to mutikallīmūn’s views and demonstrates that his definition of Man’s identity and existential capacity is completely different from and even in contrast to that of mutikallīmūn. Unlike Mullā Ṣadrā, they consider such elements extremely trivial and limited, which is why their views suffer from several defects and problems.