Mulla Sadra’s Doctrine of Existence and The Objectivity of Imagination in Islamic Philosophy

 

By: Prof. Oliver Leaman

 

 

It is usually held that the ontological views of philosophers are crucial aspects of their general philosophical systems. If we compare Mulla Sadra and Suhrawardi, however, we can see that it is quite feasible for entirely contrasting ontologies to coexist with rather similar metaphysical points of view. This is possible because of the unique significance in Islamic philosophy of the concept of imagination, which serves as a bridge between notions of existence and essence, and thus reduces the significance of the distinction between them.  It is argued that one of the unique features of Islamic philosophy is this key role for the concept of imagination, and it is important to understand this if we are to be able to make sense of some of the main arguments within that philosophical tradition.