The “Highest Good for Human Beings” in Sadrian Hierarchy of Values (Exclusive Good, Dominant Good, or Inclusivism?!)
Subject Areas : ملاصدراپژوهی و اندیشۀ حکمت متعالیه
1 - Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Kalam, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran
Keywords: Mullā Ṣadrā, highest good, ultimate end, happiness, value hierarchy, absolute good,
Abstract :
The present paper focused on the issue of the “highest good” in Sadrian hierarchy of values, which delineates a model of well-being by analyzing the relationship between different types of good. In an ontological analysis, Mullā Ṣadrā considers the supreme good (happiness) to be intertwined with the existential level of perfection and the perception of that perfection (pleasure). According to Avicennan analysis, firstly, perfection in the essence of the soul leads to union with the active intellect and, secondly, from a psychic perspective, appears in the transcendental form of the soul dominating the body. In order to provide an ideal model and in line with Muslim philosophers, Mullā Ṣadrā posits the perfection of the theoretical dimension as the “dominant end”; an end that, due to existential development, results in moral goods. Practical perfections are a prelude to this existential growth. However, the supreme good transcends the end of both the soul and the body, which is the same as attaining the highest existential degrees, namely, assimilation to God and love for absolute good. The innovation of Mullā Ṣadrā’s approach lies in his attention to the three realms of the perfect, the mediocre, and the imperfect based on his own specific principles. His discussion of this point, following a descriptive (and not idealistic) approach, focuses on the stages of individuals' existential development. In his view, the highest good for the perfect is “predominantly” ultimate growth in the theoretical dimension; however, for the mediocre and the imperfect, a multitude of goods arising from intellectual-moral habits and actions “comprehensively” constitutes happiness, and each psychic illness jeopardizes well-being. Although in Mullā Ṣadrā’s analysis, unlike other philosophers, external goods play no role, different types of happiness commensurate with each level can be delineated because of various principles and intensive self-actualization of the soul.