Levels of Knowledge from the Viewpoints of Mullā Ṣadrā and Spinoza

Levels of knowledge enjoy a significant status in the minds of the majority of western and eastern thinkers; and great thinkers have engaged in detailed discussions in this area. The present research has scrutinized this issue from the viewpoints of two eminent Islamic and Western thinkers، Mullā Ṣadrā and Spinoza. It claims that although these two scientists belong to different intellectual trends، as for example Mullā Ṣadrā، contrary to Spinoza، regards knowledge (‘ilm) as basically of existence type and also in respect to universals، Mullā Ṣadrā believes in realism and Spinoza is among the nominalists، despite these differences، they have expressed viewpoints in certain fields that can be comparable. For instance، both philosophers have divided levels of knowledge into three، and believe that in each of these levels the previous and lower level is a prelude to and a means for actualization of the subsequent and higher level; and finally، according to both thinkers human happiness would be actualized through rational intuition، which is the highest level of knowledge. In this research، the details of these instances as well as other instances of similarities and differences in the viewpoints of these two scholars are delved into.