An Investgation of the Theory of Rational Choice in Popper and Sadr al-Muta'alihin's View

The theory of 'rational choice' is one of the most important and the most well-known theories in humanities used for explanation of human actions. Many of the thinkers in humanities and social sciences consider this theory as the feature of modern age and new humanities; and Karl Popper has regarded it as the master key and the only way to conquer and understand humanities. Popper defines rationality as acting in proportion to the existing situation, and believes that the logic of situation is the only and the best means for understanding, explaining and predicting human actions. On the other hand, according to the foundations of transcendental philosophy, the theory of rational choice is a limited and inefficient theroy, and the comprehensive perfect theory is the theory of volitional choice – the theory that considers both the direct factors of action, such as beliefs and motivations, and the indirect factors of action such as natural and social factors. In this article, we are seeking to use a descriptive-analytical and comparative method to investigate the theory of rational choice from the viewpoint of Popper and Mulla Sadra and show that Mulla Sadra's view is a more complete and more efficient view than Popper's view due to its precise defintion of rationality as well as paying attention to various direct and indirect factors of action.