Ontology of Imagination in Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra

The faculty of imagination is considered to be among the inner faculties of the soul by Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra. Ibn Sina considered it material in nature, while Mulla Sadra maintained that it was immaterial, and both adduced some arguments to support their views in this regard. In considering imagination as material, Ibn Sina had to deal with some serious philosophical problems such as corporeal resurrection and preservation of certain souls. While responding to his arguments, Mulla Sadra provided several arguments in order to demonstrate his own stand on this issue. On evaluating the arguments of these two philosophers, the author finds Mulla Sadra’s position to be more acceptable than that of Ibn Sina. Moreover, by confirming the immateriality of the faculty of imagination, Mulla Sadra had several achievements such as justifying the preservation of memory during old ages and some other meta-psychological problems and demonstrating ascension, corporeal resurrection, and subsistence of simple human souls, which Ibn Sina also sought to resolve. Therefore, it can be concluded that Mulla Sadra’s theory regarding the immateriality of imagination is more functional and can facilitate the process of adducing rational justifications and arguments for some religious beliefs.